For Friendship, Perhaps
by 0plus2equals1
Summary: Utena and the other duelists face their own challenges in Lordran while the Chosen Undead tries to link the First Flame. Alliances are made and friendships are broken as they discover eternity, disparity, and the struggle to keep the world from falling into darkness. Everyone is fighting to keep the fire alive-but is that really such a good idea?
1. a holy actor, cast eternally

She didn't know how long she had been walking for. Dull pain gnawed at her back as she trudged forward, her feet stumbling over vines and branches. Her sight was blurry and her throat dry. Despite the warmth of the sun overhead, she had stopped sweating long ago.

Her legs were trembling as she pushed forward through the thick forest. A fallen log blocked her way forward and she clambered over it blindly, barely registering when she lost her balance and fell to the mossy ground.

She couldn't find the strength to lift herself back up again. As she rested on her side, she stared at the white ring on her finger.

Her vision started to fade.

Loud clanking approached her, but she couldn't tear away her dying gaze from her ring.

A distant voice echoed as her shoulder was shaken. She closed her eyes.

Unfamiliar burning liquid splashed in her face and she reflexively curled into a ball and spluttered. She felt energy flowing into her oversore muscles.

She could even understand what that distant voice was saying, even though it still sounded strangely muffled. "—okay? Are you feeling any better? Hello?"

Before she could cough out a response, more liquid was poured onto her head. It seemed like it absorbed straight into her scalp, filling her with warmth. She managed to leap to her feet and look around in bewilderment.

A rotund set of armor holding a golden flask stood before her. Somewhere inside the cavernous metal was the voice of a young woman. "Are you alright?"

"Who are you?" she blurted out. "What did you just do?"

The young woman laughed joyfully. "I think I might have just saved your life! What are you doing out here with no armor on?" The round helmet tilted to the side. "Or any sort of defenses? I suppose it isn't really my business. But anyway, I'm Wakaba Shinohara, of Catarina." She held out a metal-gloved hand. "Who are you?"

She reached forward and grasped the girl's hand. After a moment of thought, she answered.

"Utena Tenjou."

The two walked slowly as Utena continued to recover. Wakaba was more than willing to fill the silence, telling her newfound companion about her recent adventures in the forest.

"And while I admit this isn't a part of the forest I had been in before, I certainly wasn't expecting to find anyone else here! It's just so out of the way of anywhere I've seen people before. What were you doing out this far?"

Utena gave her a helpless shrug. "I can't say I really remember. I must have been lost." She stared down at her feet, still amazed that her muscles had mended so quickly. "I am really grateful that you saved me. As soon as I can repay you somehow, I will."

Wakaba waved her hand dismissively. "Oh no, no problem at all! What's the point of me adventuring if I don't get to go on some adventures?" She let out a short, triumphant laugh and Utena couldn't help but smile in response.

"Though I do admit, I am not really familiar with this area," Wakaba said. "I hope I don't get us lost! You need to get back to a bonfire for sure."

"A bonfire?"

"I know there's one that's very safe, but it's a long walk. If we're lucky, we can find another that's just as good."

Utena nodded despite of her lack of understanding.

The forest was growing thinner. Thick oak trees were giving way to younger saplings and groups of aspens. Yellow-tinged leaves shook in the breeze. Muddy moss grew around curling ferns and wildflowers. Utena noticed some piles of crumbling masonry that were overgrown with rose bushes, and she was careful to avoid snagging her clothes on thorns.

The roses were becoming more common as they walked forward.

"Ah! What a pretty place!" Wakaba lifted her hands and removed her large helmet. Curlicues of brown hair stuck to her forehead with sweat. She closed her eyes as she took in the sweet scent of the flowers.

Utena looked past her friend. The ground sloped downward into a basin that was full of rose thickets. At the bottom of the hill was a stone and glass dome. While the glass was nearly opaque, she could still see the flicker of a flame inside.

She nudged Wakaba with her elbow. "Is the fire that you're looking for in there?"

"Huh?" Wakaba looked down into the basin with surprise. "Oh! It looks like there is one."

Utena watched as Wakaba donned her helmet again.

"You should stay here, just in case. I'll go see if it's safe." She patted the sword hilt in the scabbard at her side. "I'm sure it'll be just fine."

Before Utena could protest, Wakaba began strolling down the hill. Swallowing her unease, Utena waited and watched as her companion approached the dome.

Wakaba knocked on the stone and called out. "Hello! If any are present, I am Wakaba Shinohara of Catarina. I mean no harm. I desire to use this bonfire and be on my way."

After a pause, a glass panel swung open as a door. A tall figure stood in the opening, backlit by flame.

In the dim light, Utena could see the impression of a lanky man with long, wavy hair. He stood more than a full head over her armored friend.

"Hold out your hands." The man spoke dryly, but with a younger sounding voice than Utena had expected.

Wakaba laughed and complied. "I can leave my weapons outside if you want, friend."

The man said nothing but looked down at her metal gloves as if searching for something.

He smirked. "You're no Duelist."

Wakaba's helmet tilted in confusion. "Sorry?"

With movement so fast that Utena couldn't even decipher what happened, he drew a sword and slashed at Wakaba's outstretched hands.

Utena felt her stomach drop like a stone as Wakaba stumbled to the side and tried to reach for her own sword. The man simply stepped forward and placed a well-aimed kick on the rounded breastplate, nearly knocking her over.

Time seemed to slow. At Utena's feet was some long forgotten gardening implement. Not minding the thorns that tore at her hands, she ripped a wooden-handled broom from the ground and began to charge down the hill. As she maneuvered through the tangled growth, she saw Wakaba fall to the ground. The man's sword was lifted far above his head with the point aimed at the seam between Wakaba's chest plates.

Utena hit him at full speed. A scream ripped out of her as she drove the blunt wooden end of the broomstick into his ribcage. The weight of her body drove it in further as she fell on top of him. She was surprised to find that he was wearing no armor, only elaborately decorated clothing.

Dropping the broomstick, she pinned him to the ground and started to throw punches.

Beneath her fists, a green rose burst into a whirlwind of petals, and the man simply faded out of existence with an anguished scream.

"Utena? Utena!" Wakaba's voice broke through the haze. Utena stood and watched the green petals scatter in the breeze.

The weight of the rounded Catarina armor nearly pushed her back down to the ground. Wakaba had her grasped in a bear hug.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was shaky as she took a step back and looked Utena over, checking her for injuries. "I'm so sorry that happened—I should have expected that."

Utena gave her friend a look of concern and patted her reassuringly on her shoulderplate. "There's no way you could have known."

Wakaba nodded and walked over to the entrance of the glass dome. She cautiously leaned inside while Utena looked around the exterior. The rose bushes here looked more vibrant and displayed blooms of colors she had never expected a rose to have. The full rainbow of colors seemed to be present, and the large blooms were beautifully fragrant. To the left of the glass building was a small freshwater spring, and the bushes there were carefully trimmed back. A stone lip surrounded the outermost part of the spring, and a metal watering can embossed with floral designs sat there beside a dirt-streaked trowel.

Wakaba turned to wave Utena over. "It's a little dark in there, but it seems safe."

She walked forward with a smile but stopped when she heard the sickening sound of metal sliding through metal. Wakaba still stood facing her, but the point of a blade came forth through her chest.

The sword slid back out, and Wakaba fell to the floor and slowly faded away, leaving nothing but a bloodstain. In the doorway stood the same man as before. He flicked blood off of the blade with distaste and fixed his stare on Utena.

Acting on instinct, she stepped back and snatched up the broom. She held the handle vertically as meagre protection. Trying to control her panicked breathing, she waited for him to make the first move.

He stared at her for an uncomfortably long amount of time. Recognition flashed upon his face, and he threw his sword to the ground with a laugh.

"Finally," he said as he held up his right hand. Sunlight glinted off his rose crest ring.

Utena nearly dropped the broom. "You—!"

"Anthy!" He interrupted her as he yelled into the dim interior of the glass building. "Prepare us for a duel! A _real_ one!"

A small figure appeared out of the darkness. Utena felt dizzy with the scent of roses.

A young woman with dark brown skin wearing a ragged red dress held a bouquet of roses. Sunlight glinted off of her thick glasses as she approached the man and placed a green bloom upon his chest.

She turned and walked over to Utena, her gaze fixed upon the ground. She managed to affix a white rose to her tattered black jacket.

As the woman raised her head to look at Utena's face, the sun turned her glasses into shining mirrors. "If the rose is scattered, you lose the duel," she whispered. She gave the broom handle a long stare, as if considering it deeply. "Good luck."

Before Utena could respond, the woman was jerked backwards and held in a vice grip by the man.

"_Enough_," he hissed. "Give me the sword. Show me the glory that belongs to Saionji Kyouichi." He grasped Anthy by the shoulders and kissed her roughly.

Utena squinted. So this man's name was Saionji, and he possessed the same crest ring as she did. While the connection did vex her, as she became used to the scent of the roses her thoughts turned more to the thought of him cutting down the person who had just saved her life with no more consideration than someone would have when swatting away an insect.

She spun the broomstick in her hand and pointed the end at him. "That's enough. If we are going to fight, let's fight."

He gave her a look of derision. "You're going to fight me with a broom?"

"I had no problem doing it before." She shifted her feet, lowering her center of balance. "And anyone with enough of an ego to talk about themselves in the third person has to be more bark than bite."

He snorted and turned his attention to Anthy. "The sword."

The woman stood still for a moment, then clasped her hands over her heart. "Rose of the noble castle…"

A strange light effused from her body and Utena felt a pull towards her, as if gravity had moved and centered upon the bright orb appearing from her chest. Anthy was still reciting a breathy chant, but Utena could only focus upon the appearance of a shining sword from that globe of now rapidly dissipating power.

Saionji grabbed the hilt of the sword and removed it with as much care as a man removing a knife from a steak. Anthy fell to the floor.

Utena took the first move, lunging forward and feinting to the side as Saionji slashed at her. The tip of the blade whiffed past her arm, and as he overextended she used the straw end of the broom to smack his face.

He growled in frustration and pivoted on his foot, bringing the sword around in a large sweep. This time it did catch her and she felt her tattered jacket rip further. Leaping back a safe distance, she watched as he also went on the defensive as he tried to remove the broom's dirt from his eyes.

As they circled each other, she started to feel as if she had no chance of making it out of this duel alive. On a deeper level, however, she realized that she didn't really care. Her only real motivation was to take this man's ego down a peg—since he seemed likely to come back if killed anyway, she could at least exact petty revenge in the name of her fallen friend.

If she could, she would exact vengeance upon him again and again, striking him down if he were to return—but that seemed unlikely with a broom as a weapon.

Her eyes widened. Saionji had thrown away his sword earlier. Where had it landed?

Saionji lunged at her but she sidestepped and rolled behind him. She spotted his discarded sword beneath a tangle of thorns.

The two circled again, neither wanting to risk taking the first major move. Utena made a few quick jabs with the handle as if it were a real sword, and each time Saionji took wedges out of it with the magical blade.

With one more testing jab the blade got stuck as it bit too deep into the wooden handle. Utena pulled as hard as she could. While the sword did pull free, it was enough force to cause Saionji to stumble forward. As he tried to recover and turn his stumble into a stab, she stepped aside and used the straw end to blast dirt and rocks into his face. As he took more time to clear his vision, she used the handle to hook through the hilt of the discarded sword. Flipping the broom vertically, the sword was torn out of the bush and it slid neatly down to her hand.

She smiled as she held a broom in one hand and a sword in the other. Saionji glared at her and snarled.

When he rushed forward, she dropped into a crouch and thrust his sword upwards. She felt the thick resistance of flesh as it pierced his chest.

All was silent. Utena hadn't realized that she had squeezed her eyes shut. When she gathered the courage to look up, Saionji began to laugh.

"Don't you know, you stupid girl? Only the rose matters." He moved to the side, wrenching the sword from her grasp as it stuck in his ribs. "You soil the name of Duelists by—"

He choked to a stop as she smashed his green rose with the broom handle. The magic sword faded away in his hands.

As before, he disappeared, and green petals fell to the ground.

Not wanting to relish her victory for too long, Utena leapt to her feet and looked inside the glass building. Seeing nothing of interest except for a small fire contained in the center, she closed the door panel and started lifting rocks from the perimeter of the spring.

With a few minutes of effort, the doorway was effectively blocked from opening. With enough effort he might be able to find his way out, she thought, but it would be revenge enough for now.

She stood back and admired her handiwork with her hands on her hips. However, the relief was short lived, and the feeling of being utterly lost gnawed at her thoughts. She picked up Saionji's abandoned sword and looked it over. It was dull and nicked, but it would do.

As she turned to leave, she saw the girl from earlier sitting on the ground, watching her.

The two stared at each other in silence. Utena, feeling uncomfortable, politely cleared her throat.

The girl rose to her feet and gave Utena a deep bow. Her voice was low and lilting. "As surely as your rose crest led you here, you were the victor of that duel. I am the Rose Bride. I tend the flowers here, and I will tend to you. As my champion Duelist, from this day forward, I belong to you."

Utena was taken aback. "Ah…well, I don't really think I'm any sort of duelist. Me being here is really just a mistake. I was being guided by a friend…" she trailed off, unable to read any sort of response in the Rose Bride's blank stare.

"In any case, I think I'm going to keep walking ahead and try to find some civilization. You can come too, if you like."

Anthy bowed again. "I will follow you."

"Oh…" Utena scratched the back of her head and smiled. "It'll be nice to have someone to walk with, I suppose."

Anthy nodded and began to walk the perimeter of the glass building, picking up tools and placing them into a cloth bag. As she went, she took clippings of some of the roses and stored them with care in a wooden container.

She decided to try some small talk. "So, do you live here?"

"I tend to the roses here." Some moss and a stash of coins hidden under a rock went into the bag.

"What are the roses for?" She followed her as she went over to the spring and filled a metal flask with water.

"The roses are for you, Miss Utena." The ghost of a smile passed over Anthy's lips. It disappeared as quickly as it came.

Utena tilted her head, but before she could press further she heard loud crashing from within the glass building.

"Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Miss Utena."

Utena gave Anthy a wide smile. "We should probably leave before he finds a way out."

Anthy nodded. "Yes, Miss Utena."

As they were leaving the shallow basin, Utena noticed a silhouette in the distance. She froze in place as Anthy kept walking forward. It was standing a far distance into the trees, back the way she and Wakaba had first trudged through.

"Miss Utena?"

"Yes?" She glanced over at Anthy. "What is it?"

"In what direction are we going to walk?"

"Oh…" She looked back out into the forest. Whoever it had been, they had turned and left. The thought of some new threat left her on edge.

She decided to go in the opposite direction of the mystery figure, and the two walked together in silence. While she was nervous, she felt much more confident with Saionji's old sword at her side.

She noticed that the rose Anthy had fastened to her was rapidly wilting. Anthy motioned for her to stop and opened up her wooden box. A larger white bloom replaced the faded rose.

"Hey, Anthy," she asked tentatively.

"Yes, Miss Utena?"

"What's so special about these roses?" She touched the petals of her own gently.

"As a Duelist, your goal is to maintain your role as champion. If another duelist challenges you, their goal will be to knock the rose from your breast, just as you will try to do the same to them. The rose is a center for your soul and will shield it from harm, no matter the injuries that your body faces. As long as the rose is untouched, you can survive even a fatal blow. A large blossom such as this is not intended for dueling, but for protecting you from other threats. A smaller blossom will not survive for as long, but offers a smaller target for your opponent Duelist."

"And if the rose is destroyed?"

"If you are simply traveling, your soul will be made open to harm, and if you are killed afterwards you will be sent back to the rose garden. If you are dueling, you will be returned to the rose garden, and you will lose your place as champion."

"Are there a lot of duelists?" Utena didn't want to expect fighting anyone she came across.

"To be a Duelist is a high honor. Only those deemed worthy are given the rose crest."

Utena listened to the crunch of leaves underfoot as they walked forward. The trees were becoming sparse, and the few that were left seemed to be dying. Ahead she could see stone grave markers scattered haphazardly on a hill.

The slope went steeply upwards, but when they reached the top the ground gave way to a steep cliff. From their vantage point, they could see that the densely packed graves stretched ahead and gave way to another precipice. Beyond that, a massive stone wall encircled a foggy city below.

After taking in the view, Utena turned her attention to finding a way to get down the cliff that they were on. Below them but above the graves, a narrow overhang ran across most of the sheer stone face. Utena doubted the drop would hurt her, but she wasn't too sure about how the Rose Bride would hold up. She seemed rather tired just from walking here.

"I'm going to try and climb down. Do you want me to carry you? It might be safer."

Anthy nodded, and soon Utena was carrying her on her back. She barely seemed to weigh anything, and Utena was able to start climbing down the cliff with ease.

When she reached the overhang, she let Anthy slip down from her back. They could both comfortably stand on the ledge, but they would have to watch their step as they went forward.

The ledge sloped gently downward as they went and eventually rejoined with the ground. To their right were more graves and a squat, gnarled tree. In front of them were stone steps that led to crumbled arches and an enormous crow that sat upon a high wall.

Utena stared at the crow, and the crow stared back. It _quork_ed once, shuffled its feet on its perch, and looked away from them. Utena let out a sigh of relief.

Past the crow was a room flooded with shallow water and another stone arch. Beyond the arch, the ground gently inclined down towards a bright bonfire encircled with steps. Utena drew her sword and motioned for Anthy to stand close behind her. She approached the bonfire with careful movement, surveying the area for any threats.

There was a man in loose chain mail sitting languidly off to the side of the fire. A sword and battered metal shield were propped up against the stone wall behind him. He raised an eyebrow at her cautious approach.

"Where in the hell did you come from? Surely you're not another Chosen Undead. I don't think I could take another prophesized hero running around the place." He leaned to his side, trying to get a better look at Anthy, who was standing just behind Utena. "If you're looking for a fight, you won't find one here."

After some consideration, Utena lowered her sword and found a place to sit close to the fire. Anthy pulled a stone flask out of her bag and placed it directly into the flames for a few moments. When it glowed the same gold color as the fire, she removed it and handed it to Utena.

She recognized it as being the same healing mixture that Wakaba had once given her. It would be well worth holding on to in case her rose was damaged. Nodding her thanks to Anthy, she slipped the container into a pocket.

"Well, you both look far from hollow. But what are you doing traipsing around in clothes like that? Did you get lost on the way to the ball or something?" The man's tone was sardonic, but he did seem genuinely curious.

Utena's clothes were battered and torn, but her coat did have the trappings of what some noble could have worn. Her epaulets held most of their white tassles, and the buttons holding the jacket closed still shone with hints of gold. Anthy's dress was ragged, but the rich red color beneath the dirt implied it had once been beautiful. Utena looked at her ring and thought back to how Saionji's clothes held some similarities to hers, though his getup had been more elaborately embroidered. Finally, she spoke up and replied. "I guess this is just what Duelists wear."

"Duelists? Is that some new covenant?"

"I guess so?"

The man frowned. "Wonderful. So there's another set of fools to keep track of, then."

Utena shrugged, and the conversation died with that.

Anthy and Utena sat side by side at the fire. Utena was leaning back upon the stone steps as she watched the flames flicker. She could feel sleep beginning to overtake her.

The fire cast dancing shadows upon the ground. She imagined that she could see the shapes of people flitting in and out of the ever-changing pattern.

Just as she was about to drift off, the shadows slowed, and she could see two very human silhouettes stretch out from the flames.

One shadow said to the other, "So in the beginning, there was just eternity?"

"Yes, of course!"

"And after that, more eternity!"

"No, no! Not at all!"

"Oh! How could it have been eternity if it didn't last forever?" The shadow placed a hand upon its forehead in dramatic despair.

"It did last forever! It's just that afterwards, there was disparity!"

"Afterwards—how could it be afterwards if it lasted forever?"

The other shadow sighed. "Let's tell a different story."

"Okay, go ahead."

The shadow girl cleared her throat. "Yes. So, in the beginning, there was eternity."

The other shadow raised her arms in despair. "You said a different story!"

"Ah, this is a different story! This is a different eternity! A different disparity!"

"Do you really know any other stories?"

"Do you know?"

"Do _you_ know?"

The shadow argument faded away as Utena fell asleep.

(Next time on For Friendship, Perhaps : Miki struggles to go on his own journey, the Chosen Undead explains the rules of living in Lordran, a warrior of sunlight and a man embraced by his goddess lend their aid, and Blighttown awaits.)

(This chapter's title is from When Where Who Which. It's recommended listening! Additional thematic relevance can be found with the Firelink Shrine theme.)


	2. dying, in order to live once more

Utena woke up slowly. The ground felt more comfortable than she had expected, and gentle sunlight shone down with warmth. The bonfire was crackling pleasantly, and somewhere behind her, Anthy was quietly humming a tune to herself.

With a stretch and a yawn, she got to her feet and looked around. The crestfallen warrior she had spoken to before seemed to only have attention for the fire, and she ignored him in turn.

Behind the bonfire were stairs downwards. Out of curiosity, she walked to them and took in the view. Past more crumbling archways was a vista of a city that was flooded with water. The steps opened up to a grassy ledge, and directly beneath the bonfire was a woman sitting in a cave blocked with iron bars.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to make sense of the scene. She approached the bars and peered into the darkness. The woman inside was breathing, yet seemed to take no notice of her presence.

"A firekeeper," Anthy explained. Utena looked behind her in surprise.

In the time Utena had been sleeping, Anthy must have found a way to wash her clothes and brush her hair. While the dress was still ragged, the deep red color shone through more richly. Her dark hair was brushed neatly into a bun, and her clean glasses sparkled in the sunlight.

Utena looked back towards the woman in the cage. "Why is she in there?"

"She tends to the flames above and keeps them alive with her presence. Her cage is only for her protection; fire keepers give great consideration to their duty. She has chosen to be there."

The firekeeper hadn't moved at all for the duration of the conversation. Feeling unsettled, Utena turned and walked back up the steps.

She waved to get the crestfallen warrior's attention. "Hey! What all is there to see around this place?"

He frowned in thought. "Down those steps is the New Londo ruins. I wouldn't go there, unless you feel the need to air out your insides. Behind that sodding raven are the Catacombs, and, well, at least if you go that way you're already in a grave and have no need for a funeral. Over by that aqueduct is a way into the Undead Burgh."

She nodded in thanks and picked up Saionji's old sword from where she had been resting. The man looked at her in disbelief.

"Are you seriously going out there? You'll be torn to shreds!"

She shrugged and started walking to the aqueduct. Anthy followed directly behind.

He called out as they passed beneath an archway leading to a winding uphill path. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"

She waved her hand without turning around, signaling both dismissiveness and a sincere goodbye.

The path widened to reveal two landings and a set of stone steps that led to the interior of the aqueduct. Corpselike men idled by the stairway, but when Utena approached them they leapt to their feet and brandished rusted weapons.

"Hollowed soldiers. They'll attack you without a thought and won't stop until your death," explained Anthy. "Feel no regret if you fell them. Eventually, they will return."

Utena frowned and held her sword in both hands.

One hollow rushed forward and swung its sword wildly. Another retreated up the steps and threw something. Utena dove out of the way and narrowly avoided a fiery explosion.

Two more hollows were about to jump forward when a scream came from the aqueduct interior. With dull eyes, they turned and ran to find the source of the sound.

Utena had no time to be confused by the turn of events. Another firebomb sent her rolling with her hand clasped protectively over her rose.

A third firebomb sailed through the air, but she was prepared. She ran directly forward, jumped, and brought her sword down in an overhead slash.

The sword scuffed off to the side due to the hollow's hard helmet, but he began to lose his balance. That was enough for Utena, who kicked the hollow's chest with enough force to send him falling off the cliff.

The other hollows were ignoring her for whatever had screamed inside the aqueduct. As she ran up the stairs, she managed to dispatch one by stabbing him in the back. The others had already passed through the entranceway and had begun attacking a young man who was struggling under the weight of a massive rat.

She hacked at the hollows from behind. One fell, but another managed to turn in the narrow space and swung an axe. The axe caught on her shoulder, and while she was cognizant of the impact, it was as if the axe had passed _through_ her. While her jacket now had a new tear, her body felt no pain at all.

With a grin, she simply thrust her sword forward as the hollow lifted back the axe. After a few successive stabs, the hollow fell to the floor.

An earsplitting squeal echoed in the cramped space. The young man pushed the corpse of the giant rat off of his chest. He was exhausted and battered, but he was still agile enough to get to his feet and help Utena take down the last hollow.

When the battle was done, Utena looked the young man over. He was wearing shabby leather armor that was likely lifted off of a hollow. He had a boyish face, a thin build, and used a rapier that was in much better repair than his other equipment. His left leg had a nasty looking gash left by the sewer rat.

"Thank you." He was still catching his breath. As he went to take a step forward, his leg gave out beneath him. Utena rushed to catch him before he hit the ground.

He groaned in pain as Utena slung his arm over her shoulder and carried him back out of the aqueduct.

"I can take you to the bonfire and you can heal there, right?" Utena grunted as she kicked the body of a hollow out of the way.

"I need—I need to get to my sister, Kozue. She's in great danger, down in Blighttown. I was trying to get to her—" He almost slipped from Utena's grasp as they went down the stairs.

"I don't think you can keep fighting like this," Utena said with sympathy. "Where did you say she was?"

"In Blighttown. Beneath the city." He shuddered. "That horrible swamp…"

"Listen. I'll do my best to find her for you if you stay here and recover." While Utena felt bad for him, she was secretly glad at having found a goal to work towards.

He sounded truly grateful. "Thank you…" His head lolled to the side, and Utena had to struggle not to drop him as he passed out.

Anthy was soon at her side. She removed moss from her bag and pressed it upon his wound. While he remained unconscious, his breathing slowly became more regular.

"He will recover, but he needs time." Anthy stood back and closed her satchel.

Utena carried him down the hillside and placed him in a secluded spot between a crumbled wall and an archway. Convinced of his safety, she returned to the aqueduct and pressed on.

The rest of aqueduct was blocked by a locked metal grate, but to the left was an exit to a stairwell. Utena climbed it cautiously, her sword at the ready. At the top of the stairs were three dead hollows, and she sighed with relief.

After exploring a stairwell surrounded by broken boxes, they happened upon a corpselike man sitting on a balcony. For as hollow as he looked, he was surprisingly lucid. He called out to them when they observed him cautiously through a broken window. "You two seem to have your wits about you. Why not trade me some souls for some fine goods? Everything here is for sale!"

Utena approached cautiously and looked over his wares. Many of the weapons looked like they would be too heavy for her to wield, and armor would only serve to slow her down when she had her rose as adequate protection. She pointed at a cloth sack full of orange powder. "What is that?"

"Ah!" He laughed and pinched some of the powder in wizened fingers. "That's good repair powder, that is! It can fix up any blade in seconds. Want a demonstration?"

After a moment of trepidation, she handed the undead merchant Saionji's old sword. He looked it over carefully.

"Well made, if a bit unbalanced. And heavily used…but then," he said as he used a cloth to grind the powder into the blade, "This will make it good as new."

He handed it back to her. The nicks in the blade did appear to have been filled in.

She sheathed the sword and nodded. "How much for some of the powder?"

"I say fifty souls for the demonstration, and five hundred for a bag's worth."

The concept dawned on her that she had no idea how to give the merchant souls, or if she actually had such a thing on her person. She scratched her head. "Uh, well…"

Anthy stepped forward and held out her hand, where a shining mass of white appeared. "Is this enough?"

The undead merchant leaned forward with wide eyes. "The soul of a brave warrior…?" After fighting through some internal conflict, he nodded vigorously and took the souls from her. "Of course, of course. But, ah, is there anything else that you want? Anything at all?"

"Um…" Utena checked the scattered wares again, not feeling any real need for the items there. Stuffed between wooden boxes was a mass of faded parchment and a jar full of charcoal paste. She pointed to it. "What about that?"

"Oh." He twisted around to look at it. "That's just what I use if a customer asks for a record of their purchase. Then again, it's rare to find people that meticulous these days. It could be yours for…well, how much are you willing to pay?"

Utena shrugged as Anthy held out her hand again. The merchant's sunken eyes glowed with avarice as he took the mass of souls. "Consider it yours! And remember me the next time you need more repair powder!"

Utena waved goodbye with a nervous smile and took the purchased items. "I'll keep it in mind!"

After they had left, she gave Anthy a questioning look. "Where did we get so many souls?"

"I gather them when you defeat hollows."

Utena frowned. "I haven't fought that many, have I? Five hundred souls seems like a lot."

"Saionji defeated many travelers that happened upon the rose garden," Anthy said quietly.

"Oh…" After an awkward pause, she rallied and tried to recover the conversation with a grin. "Well, I doubt that merchant gets that many customers down here. I think we made his day."

To her surprise, Anthy returned the smile. "I suppose that we did, Miss Utena."

They found a lit bonfire in a tall stone building. Utena sat at it, grateful they had run into minimal trouble in their exploration of the Burg. They had passed many fallen hollows, but no living opponents.

A growling sound outside broke her out of her reverie. She looked outside the building and narrowly avoided being hit by a crossbow bolt. The hollow that had been prone on the ground just moments ago began to reload its weapon.

After the hollow fired, Utena rushed forth and impaled it with Saionji's sword. While that hollow fell, she realized that three others that had once been in heaps were now very aware of her presence. They began advancing towards her with weapons drawn.

She ran back to the bonfire building and grabbed Anthy's hand. The Rose Bride did not protest as she was pulled out of the building.

The only way forward was a narrow walkway over a long drop to the lower level of the Burg. Utena pulled Anthy along, but leapt back as a volley of firebombs blocked the path. Above the walkway were wooden platforms where hollows were throwing the projectiles with abandon.

She growled with frustration and blocked Anthy from the flames with her arm. The hollow soldiers were quickly approaching from behind, but the fiery onslaught seemed impassable.

One of the firebomb hollows gurgled after an axe lodged in its head. An armored figure ran along the rickety platform, dodging the fire as they took out the remaining hollows with stunning accuracy.

Utena watched with amazement as the last hollow fell. The unknown figure turned to them, their gore-covered axe gripped tightly at the ready. Every inch of their body was covered in armor or cloth, and their face was hidden within their helm. Utena tensed and backed away, blocking Anthy with her body.

The figure stood up straight and gave them a cheerful wave.

Utena stared blankly and slowly returned the gesture.

"Miss Utena." Anthy spoke with an urgent tone. The three hollows from before were almost upon them. Utena grabbed Anthy's hand and ran across the walkway, passing by more dead hollows. She heard a whistle and saw the unknown figure point at a stairwell beneath the platforms.

By the time Utena reached the wooden stands, the figure was already grappling with hollows below a stone turret. In spite of their shields and spears, they quickly fell to the axe. The figure turned to them, waved again, pointed to a set of stairs that led beneath an archway, and sprinted down the path.

Unsure of what they wanted, Utena cautiously walked forward and peered down into the stone hallway. The figure was running towards a tall and heavily armored knight.

The black knight turned and drew its sword.

The stranger paused for a moment, then turned around and bolted.

Moving with surprising speed for its size, the black knight pursued them. It brought its sword crashing down upon the stranger's back. They fell to the floor with a clatter and tried to crawl away, but the black knight plunged its blade through their spine.

The figure faded into nothingness. The black knight pulled its sword from the ground and fixed its attention upon Utena.

Panic rising in her throat, she grabbed Anthy's hand and fled. Loud clanking signaled that the black knight was catching up to them. As the duo rushed up the stairs, a hollow lying in wait set a barrel aflame and rolled it down the incline. Utena swore and slammed into the wall, and Anthy gasped as she was pulled to the side. The flaming barrel narrowly avoided them and instead crashed into the black knight.

The explosive impact was deafening. Utena watched as the smoke cleared with hope that the knight had been defeated.

Black armor came forth through the smoke. The knight strode forward as if nothing had happened, and Utena took off. She ignored the hollow that had ambushed them as she ran up a spiral staircase. When the staircase ended, a wall of fog blocked off the exit. She barreled through it without thinking, dragging Anthy along behind her.

Beyond the fog was a long parapet with crumbled edges. At the far end was another mass of fog blocking a doorway into a tall tower. Past the tower was a bridge that spanned from the wall they stood on top of to the interior of the Burg. A few hollows were idling there, but Utena's attention was caught by a massive red drake that had stretched itself over the roof of a building. It flicked its tail lazily as it rested its head on a rampart.

She sighed, relieved that least the black knight hadn't followed them through the fog. A snarl made her look to the top of the tower they had exited, where two hollows were taking aim with crossbows. She caught sight of a ladder and was soon able to climb up and dispose of them. Once they had fallen, she removed a crossbow bolt from her shoulder with mild annoyance.

Anthy had climbed up the ladder once the hollows were defeated. Utena felt a pang of sympathy when she saw how exhausted the girl looked.

Before they could gain any respite, a roar sounded from the other end of the parapet. A bull-faced demon wielding a massive axe leaped forth from where it had been hiding on the tower. The stone wall shook as it rushed towards them, and parts of the parapet crumbled and fell into the cliffs below.

Utena's eyes went wide as the demon prepared to jump up to their platform. Just as it leaned back on its haunches in order to make the leap, Utena jumped down herself and landed on the creature's head with a yell. One hand grasped at its fur while the other hacked wildly at its face. The demon bellowed and swatted her like a fly, causing her to tumble to the ground and roll away before it could stomp on her.

Saionji's sword was still embedded in its forehead. It fumbled with large fingers to remove the annoyance, and the blade went careening over the side of the wall.

Utena swore and began to run to the other side of the parapet, hoping that she could at least bait the creature away from Anthy. In a panic, she saw that Anthy was no longer at the top of the tower, but was instead climbing down the ladder.

The demon swung its axe and Utena nearly rolled off the wall while trying to avoid the impact. As it wound up another swing, she sprinted forward and dove between its legs. After recovering from the fall, she ran to Anthy, who was now on the parapet proper.

"Anthy! What are you doing-?" Utena grunted as Anthy threw herself upon her. Utena held her in her arms as she went limp.

A bright orb began to grow above her chest. Time slowed as Utena felt a strange pull when the sword began to appear. When she was this close to the sword's summoning, her vision flashed and wavered. It was as if Anthy's appearance was changing as the blade came into reality; her dress ebbed back and forth with deep red folds and flowing lace. The scent of roses filled the air.

Utena grasped the sword and pulled, feeling as if she was waking up from a dream. Anthy lay in her arms, looking just as ragged as before. Utena let her down gently and turned to face the Taurus demon, which had stepped back and shielded its eyes from the bright light.

With a loud cry, Utena launched herself at the demon and swung the sword at its legs. The blade cut through the thick flesh with no resistance. The demon roared and swung at her, but she sidestepped the blow and struck at its hands. The axe caught her shoulder as it was swung wildly and she found herself caught between the massive blade and the stone floor. The demon struggled to unstick the edge from the rocks, and Utena took the opportunity to slice at its wrists.

The demon finally lifted the axe, but it overcompensated for the weight and began to fall backwards as its slashed legs gave out beneath it. Utena barely noticed how the damage her shoulder had taken quickly repaired itself as she lunged forward to finish the fight.

With a final stab to the chest, the demon screamed and dissolved into souls. Utena stood over the place it had fallen triumphantly.

The sword soon followed suit and faded away in her hands. Unsure of what had happened, she turned and looked back at Anthy. The Rose Bride was sitting on the ground and breathing heavily.

Utena rushed to her side and eyed the distant drake warily. "Anthy, I don't think it's safe to stay here."

She nodded wordlessly in response. Utena looped Anthy's arm over her shoulder and helped her walk to the tower entrance that was no longer blocked by fog. The hallway inside was completely empty aside from a few stray barrels. Through openings on the right, Utena could see the drake lounging above the bridge. On her left, the sheer wall face descended into low clouds. The hallway led to a balcony that stood above the clouds and the entrance to the bridge.

Utena had been hoping for a bonfire and she didn't have a good feeling about the situation on the bridge. Restless hollows groaned as they stumbled around its length. The drake lifted its snout and chuffed fire onto its side of the walkway, and the hollows flailed under gouts of orange flame.

She grimaced and looked away. The scent of burning flesh was pushed towards them with the heat, and she felt ill as she returned to Anthy's side.

Anthy was wiping her glasses with the outer layer of her dress. Her shoulders were no longer heaving with each breath, and her countenance had returned to its accustomed blankness. Utena smiled at her despite the sinking feeling in her stomach that they had run into a dead end.

"Oh, Miss Utena." Anthy replaced her glasses and searched in her bag. She removed a fresh rose from the wooden box and removed the one on Utena's lapel. In the scant moments between the wilted petals being removed and the new blossom being placed, she felt a wave of exhaustion and fatigue pass over her.

Utena gently nudged the new rose to ensure it was firmly attached. "Thank you."

Anthy said nothing, but she offered a small smile.

Utena had low hopes for the balcony, but perhaps it led to a door or stairwell. A door close to the bridge had potential, but it was firmly locked and she doubted she could force a way through.

She strode out upon the platform but froze when she saw an armored man standing at the balcony's edge. While his back was to them, she had no sword while he had one sheathed at his side, and she didn't think Anthy was in good enough health to do her ritual again.

After ensuring that Anthy was hidden safely behind a pillar and that the possible retreat through the upper hallway was clear, she lifted a hand to her mouth and called out. "Hey! You there!"

The man quickly turned to face them. His chest was emblazoned with a stylized image of the sun, and a red feather fluttered on the rim of his iron helm.

He raised a hand in greeting and shouted back. "Yes, hello!"

Utena was glad that he wasn't hollowed, but she wasn't ready to trust him just yet. She yelled again from the balcony entrance. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

He shouted his reply. "I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight. I was here to contemplate the sun, but I noticed some commotion on the high wall, so I had to take some time to contemplate that instead. Why are we yelling?"

"I just wanted to make sure you weren't a hollow! Or an ambush!"

"I give my word as a Warrior of Sunlight that I am neither of those things." He made a small bow, and Utena smiled and returned the gesture. She waved to signal safety to Anthy and moved to approach Solaire.

He repeated the bow when Anthy appeared from her hiding spot. "It is a pleasure to meet you both. It's rare enough to see one person in the Burg who hasn't gone hollow, let alone two." He paused for a moment, lost in thought. "Say, was it you fighting the demon upon the wall? Unless you evaded the drake, that's the easiest way to get here. Yet you have no weapons…or armor…" He trailed off. "I think I understand your caution before completely. But what did you fight the demon with?"

"I did have a sword. It just got thrown off the wall," Utena explained.

Solaire raised a hand to helm. "Oh, of course, sorcery! Or pyromancy?" In response to Utena's blank look, he kept guessing. "…Miracles? Are you with the Way of White? Oh, no, you seem awfully young for that."

"I suppose we did fight with miracles." She laughed nervously and scratched her head.

"It's none of my business, really," he said apologetically. "I just saw this strange light appear over the wall during that battle and I am very curious as to what caused it. In any case, what brings you to the Undead Burg?"

"We're rescuing someone's sister. She's in a place called Blighttown somewhere below the city. We were having an alright time exploring before we were attacked by a knight and that demon, but…" She trailed off and sighed.

"Blighttown is a dangerous destination. You may want to invest in some protection. I know of a blacksmith that could fashion you fine armor, or at the very least a new sword. Your situation being as it is, would you want me to travel with you? I don't mean to impose, but the path to Blighttown is an arduous one indeed."

"I'd be grateful for that," she replied. "Oh—we haven't even told you who we are! I'm Utena Tenjou," she said, and then gestured back to Anthy. "And this is Anthy, uh…" She trailed off, realizing she had never caught her last name.

Anthy nodded and quietly filled in the blank. "Himemiya."

"Well met," he replied. "I will be glad to lend assistance for as long as I am able. Shall we be off? We can visit the blacksmith and rest at a safe bonfire. I also want to stop by the Bell of Awakening so that I can leave a helpful mark for other travelers passing through."

"Great!" Utena smiled and put her hands on her hips. "So how do we get to the blacksmith?"

"We begin by getting past _that_." Solaire pointed at the drake on the other end of the bridge.

Utena's face fell as she watched it lazily puff fire into the air. "Oh."

Utena grimaced as she felt the hellkite drake's flames blast heat into the small room under the bridge. They had timed their run to be between the drake's attacks, but the window of opportunity was so small that they had to dive down the stairway to avoid being cooked.

The room opened up to access the underside of the bridge. While Utena could see the drake's tail swishing in agitation, the group was well out of its view. A few hollows wielding spears and shields fell to Solaire's sword. Utena felt guilty that she couldn't contribute much to the combat without a weapon, but she wasn't about to ask Anthy to bring back the sword when she still looked so exhausted.

As they approached the other end of the bridge, a set of massive rats came scuttling out of an access tunnel. Solaire lifted his hand in the air.

The rats were skewered in a flash of brilliant lightning before they even had time to squeal.

Utena gave Solaire a sidelong glance and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, now you're just showing off."

"Not at all," he said sincerely as another attacking rat was fried to a crisp.

A rusty ladder ascended to a wide brick road. A hollow with a crossbow took a few potshots at them before running off. As they walked cautiously towards where the hollow had been, they came into the view of a massive, armored boar. Its beady red eyes shone as it struck a hoof at the ground. A dozen or so hollows milled about around the beast, but their attention fixed upon the intruders as the boar prepared to charge.

Utena grabbed Anthy's hand and ran after Solaire as he dashed to a stairwell hidden behind burning barrels and a broken cart. The boar charged blindly towards them, crashing into the fiery refuse just as they reached the steps. It bellowed in pain and backed away from the flames.

Utena ducked her head and felt the _whoosh_ of a crossbow bolt flying past. A hollow was lying in wait for them behind more burning barrels. She grit her teeth and pushed Anthy up the stairs ahead of her, hoping they would reach the floor above before the hollow could reload. Solaire had already ascended and was grappling with two sword-wielding hollows.

Several hollows were approaching them with weapons drawn. Solaire disentangled himself from the hollow he had killed and pointed towards an open doorway. Utena pulled Anthy close and ran to it.

They had a moment to catch their breath before Solaire caught up to them and began leading the way through the building. A few more hollows attacked but were slain without much incident. The hall twisted to the right and a small stairwell opened up to a long balcony. Ahead was an expanse of vibrant green trees. To the left was a church decorated with stony gargoyles and a tall bell tower. To the right was a very hostile hollow wearing the armor and long cape of a Balder knight. It rushed towards them with its shield up and long sword at the ready.

Solaire ushered the two to stand behind him and blocked the knight with his own round shield. While they backed away, the knight kept its pace, searching for any opening that its long side sword could break into.

It lunged forward and snapped its shield into Solaire's arm. He stumbled but managed to avoid the sword's thrust, and the Balder knight went forward with its momentum. Utena drew in her breath sharply and covered Anthy with her arm as the knight separated them from Solaire.

It followed as they retreated onto a wooden platform connecting the narrow balcony to the church courtyard. Utena heard the boards creak ominously below.

Solaire's sword swung short and bounced off the knight's helmet. The knight turned its attention upon him and moved to bash with its shield.

Utena leapt forward and pulled on the knight's cape as hard as she could. She threw all of her weight into its shield as it stumbled backwards and tried to block her. The hollow flailed, and she planted a kick on the center of its chestplate. As it took a step back to recover its balance, it slipped off of the wooden walkway and fell.

"Well done!" Solaire looked over the side of the platform as the hollow crashed into the branches below. "It isn't far to the bonfire, now. Do you see the bridge?" He pointed to a long stone structure that began at the church courtyard and disappeared into the trees. "The building here is the new church. The bonfire is in the old one, where there are far fewer hollows. You'll find the bonfire and the blacksmith across the bridge. I'll catch up with you there."

Utena nodded her agreement and Solaire went on ahead to fight the few hollows scattered in the courtyard. She and Anthy snuck around the outskirts until they reached the bridge, where they were far enough away from the hollows to walk comfortably.

Utena let out a long sigh. "This place is a wreck! What happened to all those people to make them act like that?"

"You're unfamiliar with the undead curse?" Anthy brushed stray hairs from her face as she walked.

"I mean, I kind of get it, from what I've seen," she admitted. "But this is horrible!"

"You did find a few that were willing to help," Anthy replied.

"Yeah, I suppose so. I am grateful for that. I wonder what happened to the person who stopped the firebombing for us," she said with a wistful smile. "We never even had the chance to ask their name."

The treetops parted to reveal a small chapel with crumbling walls. From inside the building came a loud, rhythmic clanking. Utena descended a stairwell and found a bonfire, a doorway leading to another stone path, and stairs leading to a lower floor.

She did a double take when she saw rounded armor resting at the end of the pathway. She motioned for Anthy to stay at the bonfire and ran out to approach the familiar Catarina steel.

She called out as she got closer. "Wakaba!" There was no response, and she came to a stop in front of the sitting figure. "Wakaba?"

Rumbling snores sounded from within the onion-shaped armor. Utena took a step back as they stopped with a snort and their posture snapped to alertness.

A deep voice echoed in the helmet. "Oh-hoh! Where did you come from? Are you waiting for the gate to open, too?"

Utena glanced at the metal lattice blocking off the building at the end of the path. She shook her head and waved her hands in supplication. "No! Sorry, I just thought that you were someone else."

"Oh, have you seen another knight of Catarina running about?" He laughed heartily. "Perhaps I will meet them in my travels. For now, I wait for this gate to open." He _hmm_-ed to himself and slouched.

"Well," she replied after a long pause, unsure of if he had fallen back asleep. "Good luck, then."

She returned to the chapel to rejoin Anthy and venture downstairs. The source of the loud clanking revealed itself to be a muscular older man with a bushy white beard and wild long hair pulled back into a ponytail. His skin was streaked with soot and sweat as he toiled away on a red-hot length of metal on the anvil. He paused and set his hammer to the side when he looked up to greet them.

"Andre of Astora, blacksmith, as I'm sure you can tell. Pleased t' make your acquaintance. What d' you need forged?"

"A sword would be great," Utena replied.

"Longsword? Great sword? Curved sword?" He gestured towards a rack of weapons behind him. "Take your pick."

After looking them over, she pointed to a simple longsword. "How much for that?"

He lifted the blade from the rack and held it up. "For this? A thousand souls, I'd say."

Anthy held out a hand full of souls, and Andre raised an eyebrow.

"What, do you want it reinforced a few dozen times as well? If so, I do have the titanite for it."

Utena shrugged. "Sure?"

Anthy passed the souls to him, and he began removing small black rocks from a shelf.

"This might take some time. Feel free to rest at the bonfire 'till I finish, I'll call you down once it's done."

Utena bowed before going up the stairs. "Thank you!"

"Ah, don't mention it." He used a hammer and pick to start breaking shards from the titanite while the sword was heating in the forge. "And be careful out there. Neither of us wants to see you go hollow!"

Utena rested adjacent to Anthy. Her rose had wilted, but she felt no need to replace it when they were just relaxing. Unfortunately, that meant that the exhaustion of the day had caught up to her, and every muscle in her body was aching.

She hoped that Solaire would return soon, but she couldn't stop from wondering if he had been overtaken by hollows or worse when going into the church. If he didn't return for some time, she figured that she would ask Andre if he knew a way into Blighttown.

She noticed that Anthy was humming quietly to herself. Utena stared into the flames of the bonfire and listened.

Familiar shadows were cast upon the wall.

One shadow pointed to the other. "Hey! What have you been doing standing there for so long?"

"Oh, nothing much. The day was just so nice outside that I decided to stay here and enjoy it!"

The shadow put a hand on her forehead in exasperation. "But—you've been out here for ten hours! I asked you for help with the laundry this morning!"

"I hate sorting socks," the other shadow retorted as they crossed their arms. "It's too nice a day to spend it sorting socks!"

"Oh, I hope you got a sunburn from standing out here all day!" The shadow stomped her foot on the floor.

"I didn't get a sunburn, but I think I might have looked at the sun for too long," the other shadow said with a sigh. "I think I may have gone—"

The shadow interrupted and pointed an accusatory finger. "Blind!"

The other shadow shrugged. "Deaf!"

The shadow paused, her finger still up in the air. "…Deaf?"

"Pardon?" The other shadow cupped her hand around her ear.

Loud creaking sounded from the wooden ceiling above them and the shadows scattered. Utena tensed until she saw Solaire descending the stairway. She looked on with confusion as another armored figure followed close behind. He was clad head to toe in burnished golden armor, and his chestpiece had decorative arm designs fashioned so that they wrapped around him in a metal embrace. Lashed to his sides were two curved shotels. Their sharp edges glinted in the firelight.

Solaire stooped down to refill his estus flask at the bonfire. "I was able to enter the church without much incident, but when I returned from placing my summoning sign I happened upon Knight Lautrec of Carim, wrongfully imprisoned by some near-hollow and left to rot in a cell. After being released, he agreed to come on our journey to Blighttown."

"You have my thanks for making my introductions for me," Lautrec said gruffly. "As for your expedition to Blighttown, I am familiar with the way there. We'll be passing through the Depths, which we can access using keys I bought from a man who was also headed for the swamp. He said he no longer had any need for them. Of course, they were of no use to me while stuck in that blasted cell."

"It's nice to meet you, Knight Lautrec." Utena stood and offered a bow. Anthy did the same.

"Tenjou and Himemiya, I'm sure," he replied. "Your Warrior of Sunlight friend told me all about your search. I'm intrigued. What was this girl doing down in the sewers, anyway?"

"I'm not really sure," Utena admitted. "I'm really just hoping that she's still alive by the time we get there."

"Then we should make haste," said Solaire as he stood up from the side of the bonfire. "What's the quickest way? Through the lower Burg?"

Lautrec took his turn at the bonfire as he thought the route over. "I've heard tell of a goat demon establishing itself in the lower Burg. I say the best way to get to the Blighttown is through the back end of the aqueduct and then through the Depths. There will still be the sewers to contend with, but none of those damnable bandits."

"Part of the aqueduct was locked off when I was there," said Utena. "Would your key work?"

"Most likely. If we take the elevators in the church, we can reach the aqueduct in no time at all."

Andre called out from the floor below. "Sword's finished!"

"Thanks!" Utena yelled her reply over her shoulder before addressing the group. "I'll go get that. Otherwise, are we ready to head out?"

Solaire nodded as Lautrec closed his flask and stood.

Utena turned to face them before descending the stairwell. "Thank you both, really. When I find some way to repay you, I will."

"Think nothing of it." Solaire sounded happy as he waved a hand in dismissal, but Lautrec replied with only silence. Unsure of how to interpret his response, she simply went down the steps. She pushed all doubts from her mind as she refocused instead on how glad she was to have some help in this strange and dangerous place.

(Next time on For Friendship, Perhaps : A dragon is closely observed by a six-eyed channeler, two dinners go awry, Kozue is found, and Miki makes his decision.)

(This chapter's title is from Spira Mirabilis Gekijou. It's recommended listening, especially because it's the souped-up fourth album version! Additional listening can be found in the Taurus Demon theme.)

(Also, major thanks to all that have commented/kudos-ed! Special, special thanks to Moth, who made incredible art of Catarina Wakaba! It's amazing!)


	3. towards the past, to the future

Lautrec led the group to a set of chain-lifted elevators embedded into the side of the church. Utena's eyes widened as they lowered her to a familiar view. The crumbling archways of Firelink Shrine filled her with a sense of relief.

A blond older man in the armor of a cleric watched their descent with a look of confusion. Recognition flashed across his face when he spotted Lautrec.

"Ah, Petrus." Lautrec crossed his arms and stepped off the elevator platform. "Still waiting on your friends from the Parish?"

Petrus frowned. "I thought the lift was broken," he mumbled, eyeing the rest of the group warily.

"Well, it's fixed. You'll be able to head into the Catacombs any day now." Lautrec gave an almost jaunty wave as he went past. Petrus's face darkened, and he ignored the rest of the group as they followed along.

They approached the bonfire, and Utena was glad to see that Miki was awake. The gash on his leg still looked purplish and swollen, but it had healed somewhat with the application of the moss. He was talking quietly with the crestfallen warrior, but he turned to look at them with surprise. "Oh—hello again! Wow. You're quite a group. I had no idea that you had reinforcements like this! Even Blighttown is going to be easy for you." His gaze fell upon Anthy, and his expression was suddenly unreadable. "What…Himemiya? Is that you?"

Utena looked back and forth between the two in confusion. "You two know each other?" She nudged Anthy gently with her elbow. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Before Anthy could reply, Miki had limped over to her and gently grasped her hands. "What happened to Saionji? Did one of them-?"

"Miss Utena defeated Sir Saionji," Anthy answered with a smile. His hands slowly dropped away from hers. Utena took note of the rose crest ring on his finger and felt suspicion start to rise.

Miki shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "In any case, I'm glad you're free of him." He took a step back and smiled widely at the group. "I won't hold you all back any longer. I just hope you know that I am very grateful for your help."

The crestfallen warrior spoke up from his seat at the bonfire. "Are you _all_ off searching for that girl?"

Solaire nodded. "Care to join us?"

The warrior paused, thinking the offer over, but then scowled and looked away. "I'd rather not. Blighttown is a death trap. Not to lower your hopes, Miki, but I doubt they'll find more than a hollow or a corpse."

"She's alive," Miki said firmly. "I just know it."

"I'm sure we'll find her," Utena said kindly. "She'll be back safe in no time at all."

Miki nodded and sat by the bonfire, taking weight off of his aching leg. "I put my trust in all of you."

"Hey!" The crestfallen warrior called out as the group was about to leave. "I almost forgot. That chosen undead came through here and said to give you this message if I saw you again. Did you run into that fool in the Burg?"

Utena frowned. "Maybe?"

"Well, here." He held out a folded piece of parchment. Utena took it and nodded her thanks. She decided she would take the time to read it when their current quest was over.

The trip through the aqueduct was largely uneventful. Lautrec's key was thankfully able to open up the steel grate. A near-hollow woman called out to them from the far end of the waterway, trying to get them to buy her mosses. Utena declined the offer as kindly as she could, but Anthy humored her and purchased a few.

A spiral staircase went past one lost-looking hollow with a crossbow and opened up to a wide alley. Lautrec tried another key on an imposing wooden door with iron reinforcing bars. The door opened, and he led the way into the Depths.

A loft full of idling hollows overlooked a grimy kitchen. Rotting dogs prowled for scraps as butchers chopped at meat of an unidentifiable source. The air reeked of blood.

Lautrec looked down with disdain. "This will be fun. The Depths proper is below this mess."

"We could begin by clearing out the stairwell. That opens the path to that lower area, and if we're quick enough we could just ignore the butchers." Solaire leaned onto the railing and watched the room carefully. "We can drop down over the side there, and bypass the dogs, as well."

As the two tried to plan the attack, Anthy placed a hand on Utena's shoulder and pointed to the far corner of the room. A butcher was standing in the rafters, half hidden in shadow, but she seemed to be staring directly at them. Utena felt a chill pass through her and stepped back involuntarily.

Anthy's voice was calming. She now pointed to the area below the butcher. "Miss Utena, do you hear that?"

She strained to hear over the sounds of the kitchen and the hollows. She managed to catch hoarse yelling.

She caught Lautrec's and Solaire's attention. "I think the butchers have someone trapped in that room. Surely we can do something about it?"

Lautrec seemed impassive, but Solaire nodded. "If we go quickly, we won't draw much attention."

Utena nodded and grabbed Anthy's hand.

Lautrec led the way down the stairwell, sprinting down and immediately turning right and jumping down a ledge. Utena followed, pulling Anthy close behind. She ducked beneath the swinging torch of a hollow and used her elbow to deflect it to the side. She pushed Anthy ahead and made sure she dropped down to the area Lautrec was in before slashing at the hollow with her sword and turning to follow her. Solaire quickly caught up and took care of one stray hollow that had made the mistake of falling over the ledge.

They stood for a few moments, making sure that no other hollows had been alerted. When the coast was clear, Utena took a few steps forward.

The butcher dropped from the rafters, nearly crushing Lautrec and sending Utena in a panicked backwards scramble. Solaire took a swing at the sack-clothed head while Lautrec's shotels swept at ankle-height. The butcher stumbled and used the blade of the cleaver to regain balance, the tip of it digging into the floor.

Lautrec took a final slash at her side, and she faded away.

The yelling sounded again from within the room. "Is—is someone out there? Anyone?"

The source of the voice revealed itself to be a man trapped inside a room full of barrels.

"Oh—thank goodness you're here. Could you—could you help me?"

Utena tried to ignore the fact that many of the barrels contained mystery meat as she helped clear a path to the man. Finally, they reached him and broke apart the cask he was caught in.

"Thank you. I would have been her supper without you. I was going down to Blighttown when she caught me…they took my estus and most of my supplies." He stepped forward unsteadily, trying not to trip on the wreckage of the barrels. Beneath his hood, his face looked haggard and gaunt. Utena searched through her pockets for her estus flask. Laurentius seemed to need it more than she did.

He accepted it with shaking hands and drank. Color immediately returned to his face and he could hand the flask back without nearly dropping it.

"Thank you. I am Laurentius of the Great Swamp. More importantly, I owe you all my life."

Utena smiled. "Nice to meet you, and we're glad to help," she said, and she turned to gesture towards the others. "That's Lautrec of Carim and Solaire of Astora. She's Anthy Himemiya, and I'm Utena Tenjou. We're on a rescue mission, sort of. A sister of a friend is down in Blighttown and we're off to go find her."

His eyes widened. "Whoa. You're an actual travelling band of heroes, then? Just running around and saving people?"

She laughed nervously. "Not really! We've just been lucky enough to run into each other when we needed it most."

"Well, I'd be honored to join you in finding this girl. It's really the least I could do."

"The more the merrier," Solaire replied.

The group descended to a dimly lit hallway that was filled with a few inches of filthy water. Anthy gathered up her dress and tied it so that the hem wouldn't drag in the muck.

"Could I borrow that for just a moment?" Lautrec pointed to Solaire's sun-emblazoned shield. He nodded and handed it over.

Lautrec walked forward into the flooded hallway and held the shield directly over his head. With a sickening _squelch_, a blob of slimy filth fell from the ceiling and landed onto the painted steel. Lautrec lowered the shield and shook off the slime with disgust.

"Watch above you for those. They're incredibly unpleasant to clean off of your armor, and I imagine even more so to clean off your face," he said dryly. He handed the shield back to Solaire, who briefly tried cleaning off the remaining gunk before giving up with a sigh.

Beyond a pair of torch-wielding hollows and more voracious slime that dropped from the ceiling, the narrow hallway twisted left and opened into a larger chamber. On the left were metal bars separating the room from a larger waterway that held the largest rat Utena had ever seen in her life. It stared at them with beady eyes as Lautrec kicked boxes away from a ladder.

The ladder led to a small room that held nothing but a door with no handle. The rat continued to watch them suspiciously through the bars and swished its tail.

Solaire pushed and pulled at the door, but it refused to budge.

"Of _course_ it won't open," Lautrec grumbled. "So, now we'll need to go through the side sewers. I hope someone has purging stones on them, because the place is overrun with basilisks—"

Laurentius stepped forward and held up a hand. "Pardon me for a moment."

Fire swirled, crackled, and shot forward. The door was engulfed in flames. When the fire died down, Laurentius stepped forward and pulled at the remains of the door. The hinges snapped and the bulk of it fell to the ground.

Lautrec clapped him on the back as he walked past the smoldering pile. "Well, aren't you proving yourself useful."

Laurentius laughed flatly in response and followed.

Beyond was more slime and rats, but past an open metal gate sat a man in extravagant looking armor. He was conspicuously clean and shiny when compared to the surrounding sewers. He looked over at them from where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Aye, siwmae. And good day to you."

Solaire waved as he approached. "Well met. What brings you to this part of the Depths?"

The man's oddly shaped golden helmet tilted. "I'm Domhnall of Zena. I'm just, well, a peddler, of sorts. You may be surprised, but I get good business here. There's more than you would expect coming and going from the locked-off world of Blighttown."

Utena frowned. "Wait, what do you mean by locked off?"

"See the door?" He pointed to an imposing wood and steel gate that was locked shut. "Before Blighttown was fully blighted, the citizens decided to close themselves off and keep the sickness from spreading. The intention was that not a soul could get in, and not a soul could get out. To be sure that none would open the door, they fed the key to a gluttonous dragon. But the draw of the ruins of Izalith are too strong for the barrier to stop adventurers from finding their way in. In this world, in this moment, the door is quite locked, but I often run into those that have already been to the swamp and simply need to stock up on supplies."

"I'm sure that you don't have the key on you for sale," Lautrec replied.

"Oh, no. The dragon still has the key. I haven't even been to Blighttown myself."

Frustration edged into Lautrec's voice. "So, where is this dragon?"

Domhnall pointed to a passage on his right. "Not far from here. It lives in the pit at the bottom of the largest sewer chamber. Now, it isn't a _true_ dragon, not anymore, but it does share their ancestral weakness to lightning. If you'd like to make a trade, I have some fine gold pine resin for sale…" He began to rummage in the boxes behind him, but Lautrec turned and started walking down the hallway.

Solaire and Laurentius followed. Utena gave the salesman an apologetic wave as she left, and Anthy mirrored the gesture.

She could hear Lautrec grumbling to himself. "That fool probably does have a key to that damned door. He's the one who sold me the keys to the Depths in the first place. He just wants to make a profit on people stupid enough to want to go down to the swamp."

Utena practically needed to jog in order to keep up with Lautrec's pace. The hallway eventually opened into a wide stairwell with large stone balconies. They overlooked a large room that held piles of steaming filth and broken columns.

She turned to Anthy while the others started walking down the steps. "It's probably safer for you to stay up here. I promise to hold onto my sword this time, too."

That elicited a small smile from Anthy. "As you wish, Miss Utena."

She grinned, drew her sword, and ran to catch up with the others. They had already reached the bottom of the stairwell and were waiting near a wall of fog.

As a group, they walked through the barrier and into the dragon's lair.

The floor at the end of the chamber dropped away into a chasm. A deep rumbling sounded from within, and an elongated snout poked out and waved around as if to sniff the air.

Utena tilted her head as she watched it move. Was that the dragon? If so, it was oddly cute.

Her opinion quickly changed as claws grabbed onto the ledge and hauled the rest of its body forth. Fleshy wings swung to aid the effort of the forearms lifting a mass of teeth that gnashed at the air. The gaping dragon stomped forward and shook water from its tail. Teeth jut forth from every point of what seemed like its abdomen.

With a bellow, it twisted its back so that its overgrown mouth faced them. It ran directly at them with its arms outstretched, as if to scoop them up and swallow them whole. The group scattered to the sides as it approached and began to attack.

Utena heard a short scream from above. Avoiding the swing of the dragon's tail, she jumped back and looked up to the top of the wide stairwell. Anthy was backing away from a tall, blue-robed figure wearing a helm with six eye holes. They held up a trident menacingly as they advanced upon her.

With growing panic, Utena looked to the fog gate blocking off the stairwell entrance. She sprinted to it and found it was now impossible to pass through.

She dove to the side as the dragon charged and swung its claws. Solaire and Lautrec were hacking away at its back legs while Laurentius threw fire from a safe distance.

The stone structure of the stairwell was ragged and broken in places. Utena ran to the corner, where rubble allowed her to jump up to an outcropping of shattered bricks. She began to climb up the wall. The stone was slippery, but she managed to keep her grip and make it to the second level of the stairs. She hauled herself over the edge and ran, drawing her sword as she went.

Anthy was backed into a corner. The six-eyed channeler reached out to grab her. Utena sprinted forward and thrust her sword out in front of her, piercing the channeler in the back.

When she pulled the sword back, the channeler fell to their knees, but they still had enough strength to sweep at her with the trident. It cut at her arm as she covered her rose with her hand. She fell on her back as they jabbed again, and she twisted her legs away from the trident's reach.

As she tried to get back to her feet, she saw that Anthy had draped herself over the channeler's back. She was wrapping her arms around their neck and pulling tight. "Miss Utena," she said urgently as the channeler struggled to stand back up.

Utena wasted no time in slashing at the channeler's chest. Anthy withdrew her arms as the body faded into nothingness.

Utena offered Anthy her hand and helped her back to her feet. After making sure that she was unharmed, she looked down over the side of the wall and saw how the battle with the dragon was faring. At some point, the tail had been cut off, but the bloody stump left behind was still able to swing with great force. Lautrec was strafing around the dragon's rear, taking occasional swings with his shotels when not avoiding kicks from its back legs. Laurentius was limping, but still using pyromancy to hit the dragon's head and discourage it from charging. Solaire was alternating between helping defend Laurentius and attacking the dragon's front, preventing it from turning and dealing with Lautrec.

The dragon bellowed and stretched its wings. It leapt into the air, flapped twice, and let gravity take its course. The ground shook as it landed. Laurentius was far enough away to be unaffected, but Lautrec and Solaire had been knocked to the ground.

The gaping dragon stretched backwards as if to gloat, and Utena saw her opening. She placed a hand over her rose, held her sword with the point facing down, took a running jump off of the top floor of the stairwell and landed in the center of the dragon's mouth.

She felt the uncountable teeth tearing at her skin, but more importantly, she felt her sword go deep into the dragon's flesh. Hot, stinking air blasted past her as the dragon screeched and gurgled. It swung its body downwards, and the sword slipped from her grasp as she fell from its mouth and landed on the slimy ground.

With a few more hits from Lautrec and Solaire, the dragon fell and faded away. It left behind Utena's sword and a small key.

Utena wiped blood and slobber from her clothes as she felt the rose fixing up her injuries. Lautrec picked up the key and looked it over while Solaire offered Laurentius some estus.

"So the citizens of Blighttown truly did lock themselves away from the world and feed the dragon the key." Lautrec added the key to his keyring. "Are we sure this girl is in Blighttown? How would she have gotten in by herself? Did your friend say she was kidnapped or something?"

Utena frowned. "There must be some other way down there."

"Do you think that we're being tricked?" As Lautrec spoke, his tone gave away that he didn't consider the idea too seriously.

"I don't think Miki had anything to gain by lying to us." She mulled the idea over, but quickly discarded it.

Solaire approached Lautrec and held out a golden disk. "Here, take this. As a Warrior of Sunlight, it is my duty to give these medals to those who fight at my side during encounters such as this one." He handed another to Laurentius and a final one to Utena. "And as for getting into Blighttown, it is possible that she fought the dragon and found the key herself."

Utena frowned as she slipped the medal into a pocket. "How? Didn't we just kill the dragon?"

"The dragon is dead to us in our world, but it can still be a threat in others. That's why I've been leaving my summon sign behind as we travel. Lordran exists at the center of multiple planes of reality, and the border between them is very easy to cross. Perhaps she passed into a world where the dragon was still alive, obtained the key, and went onward. Or, she was very lucky, and passed into a time where the door was still open, and perhaps Blighttown wasn't even a swamp. There are many possibilities."

"I still don't get that," Laurentius grumbled. "I've heard some say that they've seen people like Big Hat Logan running about, and he's from centuries ago."

"Perhaps, when a very emotional event takes place, that moment is what draws time to center around that place. Lordran is the birthplace of Lord Gwyn. That act started the faith of thousands of people. Time is convoluted here, with heroes of old such as Logan appearing alongside demons and dragons that can return to fight travelers again and again. When the citizens of Blighttown locked themselves away, it was an emotionally charged moment, right? They removed themselves from the outside world to keep the blighted swamp from spreading. The dragon could be representative of that act of sacrifice, which could be why it appears even after others have vanquished it." He shook his head and shrugged dismissively. "But this is all just conjecture. I'm sure some Vinheim scholar already has it figured out and it has to do with the weather or some other innocuous thing."

"The idea has merit," Laurentius said thoughtfully. "Demons are plentiful, but they're also constantly furious, for whatever reason. It would explain why they keep appearing in the same places. But do you really think something as basic as emotion could be twisting time around? I could understand that with anything related to Lord Gwyn, but a demon, or gargoyles?"

"I say time turns itself over to make things as inconvenient as possible," Lautrec interjected.

"Now there's a theory I can support." Frowning, Laurentius looked at the ground. "Isn't it odd, though? We hear of all these figures from the past running through, but it isn't as if anyone from the future is showing up and saying 'oh hello, everyone! Don't worry, the fire has been linked and the curse of the undead is gone, just keep doing your best until we hit that point!'" He waved his hands sarcastically.

Utena had to hold back a laugh, but Solaire sounded unsettled in his response. "That _is_ odd, now that you've mentioned it."

"I'm sure it doesn't mean that the fire goes out," Laurentius said hurriedly. "Whatever chosen undead fixes that problem probably fixes the whole time thing, too, so when everything is normal in the future, they can't even come back and tell us that even if they wanted to. Which is probably for the best; they might accidentally kill the chosen undead's parents or something and cause a paradox."

Lautrec shrugged and began walking to the stairwell. "In any case, we should be going. We can't depend on time allowing us to show up when this girl is still alive."

The cold mildew stench of the Depths was replaced with humid rot. Utena resisted the urge to cover her nose as they climbed down a ladder and entered the sewage outlet pipe. Ramshackle platforms jut out from the stone walls and led further into the massive plumbing. The group traveled cautiously, with Lautrec watching the back, Laurentius and Anthy staying towards the center, and Utena following close behind Solaire.

A loud crash sounded from ahead, and they paused. A roar reverberated through the pipe. Weapons at the ready, they edged forward and peered into the darkness for any sign of a threat.

The floor they were walking on dropped off abruptly to a lower level. Utena saw Miki standing on the rickety wooden platform below them. No, not Miki—but someone who was the perfect reflection of him in face and stature. Unlike Miki, she was garbed in well-kept light leather armor and wore a black hood, though it had currently fallen to her shoulders. She was evading a hideously large creature swinging a club. As the bloated undead swung, she stabbed at its backside with a dagger. The undead barely seemed to care and turned to swing the club again.

Utena leapt down and impaled the creature on her sword. She jumped off its back as it was simultaneously electrocuted and set aflame.

With a loud groan, it fell to the floor and smoldered. Utena retrieved her sword and smiled at Miki's twin. "Kozue, right? We're here to help you. Sorry that it took us so long."

Kozue's eyebrows furrowed as she looked the party over. Her gaze fell upon Anthy and her eyes narrowed.

"Oh, he _didn't_." She shoved her dagger into its sheath and crossed her arms. "Did Miki send you here?"

Utena glanced back at her companions, who looked as lost as she felt. "…Yes?"

Kozue clenched her fists and muttered. "I can't _believe_ him. After I told him—" She paused and tried to compose herself before addressing the group. "Listen. I'm sure you've all come a long way, and I appreciate your efforts, but what you're doing is pointless. I have my own business to attend to in Blighttown and my brother must have overreacted to my absence, as usual."

Utena blinked. "…Are you sure you're fine down here? This place is overrun with—oh." She cut herself short as Kozue stepped to the side and made a widely sweeping gesture to an assortment of defeated bloated hollows on the pathway behind her.

Utena turned around to confer with the group. She opened up the discussion with an apologetic tone. "So…?"

Lautrec shrugged. "She appears to be doing well for herself. I say we leave this damned sewer."

Utena frowned. "But what about Miki?"

"I think your friend was mistaken, though I can understand why he would be worried." Solaire glanced over at Kozue, who was watching their conversation with her arms crossed.

"We can at least tell him that she's alright," offered Laurentius. "It's not like we can drag her back up to the surface." He paused in thought. "Can we?"

Kozue cleared her throat and they all turned to look at her. "If you follow me, you can get back to the surface much faster than going through the Depths again."

Utena hurriedly smiled at her. "Oh! Feel free to lead the way!"

The group fell in behind Kozue as she led them into Blighttown.

The journey was slow and arduous, yet Kozue was able to guide them across unstable platforms and narrow passages without alerting the blight-ridden inhabitants of the town to their presence. Low on both estus and energy, the group decided to avoid conflict when possible, only stopping to destroy the voracious mosquitos that would dive bomb them with putrid blood.

They came upon a rotating elevator that looked as if it was held together with snot and prayers, but the wooden boards held true and lifted them to a stone passageway. The wood and grime gave way to mossy ground and air that didn't stink of the rotting swamp.

Even Utena, now sporting a fresh rose, was feeling exhausted from the tedious passage. The group as a whole informally decided to take a break on the wide, grassy ledge that overlooked a deep valley.

The trip had been silent in the name of stealth, but now the lack of conversation felt awkward. Kozue hadn't stopped scowling since she had first spoken to them.

"So, Kozue," Utena said with an air of affability. "What were you doing down in Blighttown, anyway?"

Kozue gave her a look of appraisal before answering. "I've heard rumors that the ruins of Izalith are hidden somewhere deep in the swamp. I know that it's overrun with demons now, but I wanted to see if other like-minded people had gone to find it. Mostly, I wanted to find others interested in the pyromancies that were lost there."

"Oh, you're becoming a pyromancer?" Laurentius was pleasantly surprised. "I'm from the Great Swamp. I've been working with flame for my whole life."

"I've only ever read about it. Miki…doesn't quite approve of my interest, but I feel like it's my calling."

Laurentius smiled wryly. "Pyromancy does have a bad reputation in some parts. I can't say that's entirely unwarranted, but here in Lordran it is given more of the respect it deserves."

"When you first found me, I was going back up to the Depths to talk to that merchant from Zena. I know that it isn't exactly pyromancy, but I was curious if I could combine fresh gold pine resin with flame and see what the resulting effects would be like."

"There's an idea," he replied. "If you were to combine the effects of a resin with fire, you could completely change the damage output…"

The two began chatting about the details of the experiment. Utena smiled, glad that Kozue had something to distract her from her frustration.

After the short rest, Kozue led the way across a wobbly wooden bridge and into a stone tower. Soon, they entered a dark and chilly area that echoed with the moans of scattered hollows. The look on Kozue's face made it clear that she wanted to get out of the area as quickly as possible. Utena managed to catch a few glimpses of a distant city submerged in water before they got on a round elevator platform and began to rise.

The elevator opened up to a narrow stairway, and Utena let out a sigh of relief when she saw the familiar vista of Firelink Shrine. They trudged their way up to the bonfire circle, where Miki was waiting.

"Kozue!" Miki ran forward and wrapped her in a hug. She tolerated it stiffly as she waited for him to let go. "I'm so glad that you're okay." He beamed at Utena and the others. "Thank you all so, so much. I don't know what I can do to repay you. If you would, I would love to invite you back to the house for refreshments. We have plenty of things to spare; if there's anything that you want to take with you when you leave, just let me know."

"I'd be glad for that," Utena replied. Solaire and Laurentius nodded in assent.

"Not to offend, but I'll be staying here at the shrine. I have some other business that needs attended to." Lautrec gave a small bow to Miki, who returned the gesture.

"Oh. Well, if you're sure. If you ever need anything, you can find me in the Burg. I'm in your debt."

"I'll keep it in mind." Lautrec took his leave, and the rest of the group began to travel to the Undead Burg.

Utena was pleasantly surprised to see Anthy walking ahead with Kozue and Miki. While Kozue still acted recalcitrant, Miki was talking animatedly to Anthy, who was smiling and nodding in response.

She decided to strike up a conversation with Solaire. "So, that Knight Lautrec. Are you friends with him? It seemed like you two had met before."

"Oh, no," he replied cheerfully. "I trust Knight Lautrec about as far as I can throw him; that is to say, not very far at all." In response to Utena's look of confusion, he elaborated further. "He has a very personal relationship with his goddess, and I have heard rumors of the lengths he has gone to prove his affections. However, I do not know how true those tales are, and I hated to see an able mind rotting in a cell, likely to go hollow at any moment. I doubt the remaining citizens of the Burg can give a man a fair trial, and the descent to Blighttown was far safer with another person defending the party."

Utena frowned. "Oh."

They carefully climbed down the side of a crumbling building and waited as Miki pushed barrels away from a hidden doorway. The hallway inside led downwards and opened to a courtyard with a defunct fountain in the center. Miki led the way down an alley, and after a few twists and turns they reached a stone manor.

Utena was pleased with how well isolated the house was. The hollows of the Burg were unlikely to stumble upon the hidden entryway, and any that loitered around the top of the wall behind it would be killed by the long fall. While most of the manor was flush against the high wall, there was a green yard squeezed between it and other abandoned buildings. She could see overgrown grasses and wildflowers growing vibrantly on the small patch of land.

Sunlight glinted off of something white, and she squinted as she tried to find what it was. Hidden behind thick tufts of foliage were two marble gravestones.

Before she could get a better look, Miki was waving them inside. "Come in and make yourself comfortable!"

He led them to a dining room with a spacious wooden table and plush-cushioned chairs. He made a few trips back and forth to a kitchen, bringing them assorted breads, cheeses, dried fruits and a tall pitcher of water.

"It isn't much, but please, help yourself to what you want." Miki distributed well-polished silverware and plates as they found their seats.

Laurentius lowered his hood as he sat. "This is much more than I was expecting for a house holding out in the Burg, and you have my thanks for sharing it with us."

"It really is impressive," Solaire agreed. He carefully removed his iron helm and stored it under his seat.

Miki beamed as he pulled out a chair for Anthy. "Oh, it's nothing, really! It used to be much nicer. This business with the undead has been rough."

Utena sat at Anthy's side and started pouring a glass of water. "How long have you been in this house, Miki?"

"Well, it was our parents', and then our parents' parents', and so on. So really, my whole life. I feel like it's important to keep the place in good shape since it's already made it this far."

Kozue finally took a seat near Laurentius. "Have you fixed that leak in the back bedroom yet?"

Miki's smile faltered. "No, not yet. We never go back there, anyway. But enough about the house. Tell me all about yourselves!"

Laurentius spoke up first. "Well, I'm Laurentius of the Great Swamp. I was actually rescued from being cannibalized by these three while they were on their way to find your sister, so in a way, I should also be thanking you for saving my life," he said with a laugh.

"Cannibalized?" Miki asked him with shock as he finally took a seat.

"Yeah! I was on my way to Blighttown myself when I got caught by these horrible butcher women. I guess they decided that a pyromancer would cook especially well."

"Oh, you're a pyromancer?" Kozue glared at Miki when he asked, but he either didn't notice or ignored the look.

"Uh, yes." He paused to drink some water. "I've trained in the Great Swamp for most of my life."

"Oh. That's nice." After an awkward pause, he cleared his throat and turned his attention to Solaire. "And how about you? How did you join the rescue party?"

"I met with Lady Tenjou and Lady Himemiya near the entrance to the Parish," he explained. "After they had explained their situation, I felt that it was an excellent opportunity to aid them in my capacity as a Warrior of Sunlight."

Miki tilted his head. "I don't think I've heard the term before," he admitted.

"We assist other travelers in combat as a way to show our dedication to the Lord of Sunlight. Lordran is actually an excellent place for it, since so many make pilgrimage to the city. I actually became undead so that I could pursue my goals here to the best of my ability—"

"_Became_ undead?" Miki's eyes widened. "Why would you ever—"

"I apologize for my brother," Kozue said loudly. "He doesn't get out of the house much."

"No, no need to apologize. There are many that have found it strange." Solaire laughed and picked at the crust on a slice of bread.

Miki tried to recover the conversation. He nodded towards Utena. "How about you?"

"Well, I'm Utena," she said with an awkward smile. "And this is Anthy, although it seems like you've already met her. I was really curious about your ring, Miki." She held up her hand and showed him her own copy. "I think I have the same one."

"The rose crest," he answered quietly. "It's the mark of a Duelist. How did you get one, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I've had it for as long as I can remember," she answered apologetically. "How did you get one, Miki?"

"Our parents had ties to the Duelists," Kozue answered. Miki nodded in agreement.

"I'm not really knowledgeable of how they did it, but our parents convinced them to give us our own rose crest based on our family's achievements. They decided to give the ring to me, since I had met Himemiya a few times before. Our parents really wanted Kozue to go to Vinheim while I stayed behind to start heading the household. When we were younger, we were both really good at manipulating spells, Kozue especially."

"They wanted us _both_ to go to Vinheim," she retorted. "Before you got caught up in this Duelist nonsense."

"But it was for the best, wasn't it?" He forced a smile. "We really had a great time while I was the champion Duelist. After our parents—when it was just me and Kozue and Himemiya." He sighed and rested his chin on his palm. "Oh, Anthy, do you remember the time we went on that picnic at the lake? We found those weird little crabs on the shore, and—"

"A hydra lives there now," Kozue said flatly. Anthy continued to sip her water.

Miki's face fell. "Oh. Really?"

"You'd know that if you went outside for once."

Miki sighed. "Just because I don't want to go chasing after fairytales doesn't mean that I don't keep up with _some_ of the things that happen out there—"

With a huff, Kozue got up and left the room.

Miki stood and pushed in his chair. "Excuse me for a moment. I'll go see if we have anything sweet left for dessert."

The party sat in silence broken only by the twins' muffled argument in the kitchen.

"I hope that I don't offend," Solaire spoke up, twisting a cloth napkin in his hand. "But this dinner is, well, it's—"

"It's making me feel I would have been better off as the main course for the butchers," Laurentius said. Solaire nodded in sympathy.

Utena groaned and rested her head on her hands. "If you want to just leave, I can cover for you."

They stood up in unison. Solaire let out a sigh of relief and retrieved his helm from beneath his chair.

"Oh, are you leaving?" Miki strode into the room, carrying another pitcher of water. "Do you want any dessert before you go?"

"Ah, well…" Solaire coughed and looked at Laurentius for assistance.

"I have some pressing matters to get back to in Blighttown. Dinner was lovely, but the flame calls for me to return." Laurentius bowed.

Solaire followed suit. "Thank you for your hospitality. If you ever are in need of my assistance again, keep an eye out for my summon sign. It shines quite brightly; you can't miss it."

"Oh." Miki set the drinks on the table and smiled politely. "I'll try to remember that. I hope you both stay safe, and thank you so much for bringing Kozue back to me!"

"You should be apologizing for sending them on a pointless errand, not thanking them." Kozue returned from the kitchen with a cloth bag slung over her shoulder. "I'll be making my own exit as well."

Miki looked at her in shock. "Kozue-!"

She ignored him and smirked at Laurentius. "You're returning to Blighttown, right? I'll go with you, if you don't mind. I'll watch your back if you watch mine."

"Kozue, no." Miki pulled at her hand as she walked past him, and she looked at him with disdain.

"What are you going to do, lock me up? I have something that I want to get done. You're not going to stop me from doing it."

"But pyromancy is-!" He cut himself short and shot a panicked look at Laurentius, whose mouth was now set in a firm line.

"Is pyromancy a step too far for you, dear brother?" Her smile was more akin to a snarl. "Is it against your fine sensibilities?"

Miki was stunned into silence and let go of her hand.

Laurentius gave a stiff bow and left. Kozue followed close behind, not even sparing Miki a backwards glance.

Solaire lingered for a few more moments. "Well, I'm sure this is something you'll both laugh about in the future. It isn't as though she plans to live in Blighttown forever."

Miki scowled at the floor. "She would if it would spite me."

The resulting silence stretched unbearably. Somewhere in the house, a clock struck out the time.

Solaire gave a final bow and left. Miki was still staring miserably at the ground when Utena stood and pushed in her chair.

"I suppose Anthy and I should get going as well," she said with false cheerfulness. "Listen, Miki, you don't have to stick around in the Burg. Why not come with us to Firelink? It's much safer there, and there's plenty of people to talk to—"

"I just lost one of the few things I still held dear to me," Miki said. He stared blankly at Utena as he drew a rapier from a sheath that had been well hidden at his side.

Utena instinctively reached out and pushed Anthy behind her. "Miki. What are you doing?"

"Utena, I hope you understand. All I want is for things to go back to the way they were, but Kozue has abandoned me. The only chance that I have left…"

Utena narrowed her eyes. "Miki, it isn't worth it."

His voice cracked. "If I take back the Rose Bride, then maybe…Anthy, weren't you happy with me? Didn't you like it here? When it was me, and you, and Kozue—weren't we happy? Anthy?"

"Miki." Anthy's voice was bereft of emotion. "Are you calling for a duel?"

He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. After a long pause, he nodded. "Utena Tenjou, I challenge you to a duel. Prepare yourself and meet me at Firelink Shrine, where we will determine who the real champion is."

"Miki, I think you're going to regret this." She could see the doubt glimmering in his eyes, but he wouldn't be swayed.

Miki shook his head. "What's done is done. I'll see you at the Shrine."

"You look to be in a foul mood." The crestfallen warrior watched as Utena paced the circumference of the bonfire.

"This man sends us on a quest to save his sister from certain death, only for us to find out that she's actually completely fine, and so he turns on me and demands a duel because she doesn't want to stick around!"

Lautrec had moved up from his spot across from the firekeeper in order to see what the commotion was. "Just cut the fool down. If this is how he repays a favor, I say he deserves it."

"Ah, that's not how duels work." She gave up on pacing and sat on the ground with a huff.

Lautrec started to reply in exasperation, but the crestfallen warrior waved his hand.

"They've got unfathomable covenant rules. It's better not to ask."

"Miss Utena." Anthy stood and looked over towards the aqueduct. Miki could be seen walking down the cliffside path with his sword already drawn.

Utena frowned. "He's here sooner than I was hoping."

Anthy seemed genuinely confused. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." She rose from her seat with a sigh. "I was hoping that he wouldn't come at all."

Anthy prepared them in silence. Utena received a white rose while Miki received blue. He had ditched his scavenged armor from before and was now wearing a formal outfit similar to how Saionji's had been.

Lautrec and the crestfallen warrior had left the area around the bonfire and were now watching from a platform just below the giant crow. Lautrec's posture was unreadable, but the other man actually seemed enthused to watch the duel.

He swung his legs idly from where he sat on the edge of the platform. "What a set of fools, playing at fighting like this when the world is already crawling with bloodthirsty hollows."

"It must be some issue of pride," Lautrec replied gruffly. "Not that that excuses them, but I can't say I haven't seen men with the desire to restore a broken ego through combat before."

The crestfallen warrior made a sound of disgust. "Heal a broken ego? In this world? It's far easier to just accept that you've fallen apart just as much as Lordran has."

The two fell silent as Anthy laid back in Utena's arms. The sky itself seemed to dim as light concentrated upon her chest and solidified into a sword. Utena removed the blade with a flourish and gently walked the Rose Bride over to the side of the bonfire circle, well out of the way of the duel.

The crestfallen warrior furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "How odd."

Lautrec was now leaning forward with deepened interest. "Quite."

They watched as Miki and Utena faced each other from opposite sides of the bonfire circle. Miki bowed his head slightly and lifted his rapier. Utena nodded, gripped her sword with both hands, and began to slowly walk forward.

Miki made the first real move by sprinting towards the fire. Utena expected him to go to the left of the flames and sidestepped, but he feinted out at the last second and leapt to the right. Utena barely managed to turn in time to block him. The rapier blade skid off her upheld sword and bit at her arm, and she twisted sideways to keep the edge away from her rose.

Miki leapt back and put his weight on his back leg. He paused as if to consider his next move, and Utena took advantage of the opening by thrusting forward. He deflected the attack easily and used her forward momentum against her by slamming into her from the side. She managed to recover before falling into the bonfire, but Miki lunged forward and stabbed beneath her outstretched arm. It missed the rose by a hair. Utena swung her sword in a wide arc, hoping to catch him on the backswing, but he was too agile. He dodged and waited just outside of her range.

Utena began attacking more cautiously, but she tried her best to keep Miki on his toes. He only seemed to attack when he saw the perfect opportunity, but Utena was far less choosy. Neither seemed to be advancing forward, and for as many attacks the two initiated, they had barely moved from the side of the bonfire.

Utena grunted as she blocked another stab. "Miki, wouldn't you be happier if you just went with Kozue?"

He laughed, but it was devoid of any humor. "You really don't understand, do you?"

"Maybe not, but I can try." She sidestepped as Miki lunged forward.

Miki covered his rose with his hand as he regained his balance, but Utena didn't attack. While she still had her sword at the ready, she just stood and stared at him as he got back into a defensive stance.

"All I want is for things to be as bright as they were before," he said, genuine sadness entering his voice. "There was no real reason that it had to end."

Utena frowned. "Miki…"

He jumped forward and the rapier lodged in her ribs. She struggled in shock and tried to retreat, but he pressed onwards and tried to grab at her rose. Avoiding his grasp, she fell into a crouch and felt the rapier pull as he tried to hold onto it. She jumped back up and hit him in the chest with her head. Winded, he let go of the rapier and stumbled backwards.

She cut upwards with her sword, and Miki's rose scattered and floated away in the wind.

Miki fell to his knees and looked up at Utena blankly. Utena tossed him his rapier with a thin smile.

"Look, Miki. I'm sorry about all of this, but…I don't think this will solve the problem in the way you want."

He dejectedly turned his gaze to the ground and said nothing.

Utena, unsure of what to say, simply turned and left. Anthy was waiting for her outside the bonfire circle beside a crumbling stone wall. Utena held up the sword and watched as it phased out of existence.

"How come Miki didn't disappear and end up back at the garden? I mean, I'm kind of glad that he didn't. I doubt Saionji would have been friendly."

Anthy smiled. "Oh, no. That only happens if the current champion duelist fails. Since he was a challenger, he only lost his rose. It was fully within your rights to kill him after the duel."

Her eyes went wide. "_Kill_ him?"

"Without the rose, he is left unprotected. Since he tried to usurp you and failed, it was your choice to decide to punish him for his disrespect. He was well aware of that when he challenged you. However…" She paused in thought, and her tone became gentler. "I believe he will remember your mercy well. It was upstanding behavior; in truth, it was unprecedented for a champion duelist."

Utena sighed and leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. "You know, with Saionji being the previous champion, I believe you."

She jumped with surprise when the crestfallen warrior put a mail-clad hand on her shoulder.

"That was stunning swordsmanship, even if it grew stale with all that parrying. Do you Duelists just do this every week or something?"

She laughed. "I wouldn't know. This is just my second duel."

The warrior shrugged and began to return to his usual spot by the bonfire. "Let me know when the next big occasion is. It isn't often that something exciting happens around this place."

"I'm hoping there_ isn't_ another big occasion," she said with a sigh. "What sounds best right now is some peace and quiet—"

Utena was interrupted by a rapid crescendo of clanking armor.

"U-ten-aaaa!"

A set of heavy Catarina armor skid to a stop just before it bowled Utena over completely. Laughing with surprise and joy, she grabbed her friend by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"Wakaba! You're alive?"

"Of course I am!" She stepped back and took a bow. "It takes far more than some backstabbing chump to finish off an undead adventurer such as myself!"

Utena couldn't help but smile. She laughed and found a comfortable place to sit as Wakaba began recounting her most recent adventure. For the first time in a long while, she felt at peace.

(Next time on For Friendship, Perhaps: A close friend says the obvious, a new rival says the obtuse. Juri is determined to duel every person in Lordran. There are no such thing as miracles, unless you count Tranquil Walk of Peace.)

(This chapter's title is from Kakuu Kakokei Maijanai. Additional listening can be found with the Gaping Dragon theme.)


	4. death's inevitability, namely light

A few days may have passed since the duel, but with the way time passed in Lordran, it was hard to tell. Miki had left the Shrine, presumably to return to his home in the Burg.

Utena welcomed the calm atmosphere of the Shrine and spent her time catching up with Wakaba and recovering physically from her journey. Not wanting to waste more of Anthy's roses while just hanging out at the bonfire, she let the last one she had worn wilt. She was left sore and had a few twinging muscles, but there were no major lingering injuries.

Utena, Anthy, and Wakaba sat together in the grass by the stone well. Wakaba had removed most of her armor and was relaxing in a loose brown tunic. Anthy had recently washed her hair and was letting it dry. When not tied, her hair reached the ground when she sat and pooled there in loose curls. Utena sat at her side, leaning against the well.

"So, Wakaba," Utena said. "What _are_ you looking for when you're travelling all over Lordran?"

"Well, I'm looking for plenty of things!" Wakaba counted off the list on her fingers. "Adventure, treasure, and, of course, true love!"

Utena raised an eyebrow. "Have you actually found any of that?"

Wakaba looked up in deep thought. "I've found a little bit of adventure...I've found plenty of trash, but as they say, it could be someone else's treasure, so I just have to find out who wants it. Maybe I should become an adventuring vendor. An advendorer!" She leaned back and sighed. "And no, I've found no true love. It isn't as if I haven't tried! I asked Lautrec if he wanted to go exploring the other day-"

"Lautrec?!" Utena struggled to hold back a laugh.

"Don't be judgmental! At least he let me down gently! I didn't mean anything serious by it, anyway. He said he had obligations to a woman named Fina and had to stay close to the shrine. Of course, I felt like a fool when Petrus told me that Fina is actually some goddess. I mean, I can't compete with that!"

"I was thinking Lautrec liked the firekeeper," Utena said thoughtfully.

"The one who never talks? I guess he does sit with her a lot. I feel bad for her, though. I wonder when the last time was that she left that cage?"

Utena nodded in agreement.

"Anyway." Wakaba turned to Utena with a sly look. "Have you found any dashing young men in your travels? Or are you more the type to go rescuing fair maidens?" She put a hand over her mouth in mock astonishment, and Utena snorted.

"I mean, I guess I saved Himemiya," she replied. "While _also_ avenging your death. So that's _twice_ as heroic."

Wakaba laughed. "And then you went on to save a pyromancer and a girl lost in the swamp! You're going to give yourself quite a reputation!"

"Aw, getting Laurentius out of there was a group effort, and I don't think Kozue counts," she said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Still!" Wakaba crossed her arms. "You're closer to getting caught in some romance than I am!"

The crestfallen warrior was frowning as he tried to ignore their laughter. Petrus, who had briefly left his post by the elevators to rest at the fire, gave him a questioning look.

The warrior sighed. "All this time out here in the world and I've forgotten the true cause of fear."

Petrus raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"

"Young women gossiping just out of earshot," he grumbled.

Petrus rolled his eyes. "I doubt that they're talking about you," he replied.

"And why's that?" The crestfallen warrior glared at him, and Petrus smirked.

"You haven't got a helm on." He crossed his arms smugly and watched the confusion forming on the warrior's face. "There's no _mystery_ there, man."

"You haven't got one either," he retorted with a scowl. "I'm surprised they didn't take one look at your mug and decide that it'd be better to start living in New Londo."

The group's revelry cut off abruptly when Utena saw Miki walking down the cliffside path. Noticing her look of suspicion, he held up his hands.

"I'm not here to start anything. I just…I've locked up the house. I couldn't bear being in it alone anymore."

Utena frowned, but it was in sympathy. "Oh. Well, you're welcome to stay at the Shrine. It's really quite nice here."

He glanced around the crumbling architecture, looking as if he didn't fully believe her. "I might stay for a while. I'm not really sure what my plans are, yet."

She patted an open patch of grass with a smile. "Feel free to join us. This is my friend, Wakaba of Catarina," she said, gesturing towards her. Wakaba smiled cheerfully and waved.

"Wakaba was just speaking of looking for romance," Anthy said quietly. "Miki, aren't you currently a bachelor?"

Miki's eyes went wide with astonishment and Wakaba burst into laughter. She covered her mouth with one hand and waved the other dismissively. "Oh, Himemiya! I'm not that desperate!"

Utena rested her chin in her hands and watched Miki look around in bewilderment. "No need to be so harsh, you two."

"I didn't mean it like _that_!" Wakaba struggled to stifle her laughter as she motioned for Miki to sit down. Still looking blindsided, he sat cross-legged between her and Anthy. The conversation began again in fits and starts, but soon they were chatting as if they were all old friends. Utena watched happily as Miki relaxed and even smiled a few times in response to Wakaba's antics.

Later in the day, Utena remembered with a jolt that the crestfallen warrior had given her a letter. She pulled it from her pocket and looked it over.

The letter read:

"Greetings!

We have not spoken in person but we did meet briefly in the Undead Burg. You and your friend were near the bonfire while I was ridding the area of those bombers. I had run through that area a few times before and it was a great surprise to me to see you.

Unfortunately, I was waylaid a bit by that black knight. I'm hoping it didn't cause you too much trouble.

I do hope that you and your friend are still alive. I am very curious about who you might be.

I'll be leaving this letter in the Shrine in the hopes that it will reach you. I stop by there fairly often; you can leave a reply, if you wish, and give it to that sad man that sits near the fire. It'll give him something to do.

I cannot leave you my name, as I have forgotten it. Everyone's been calling me this, though, so it will work as a substitute.

Yours,

a chosen undead."

Utena sat in the grass and crafted her reply.

"Hello,

You were the one that took out those bombers? Thanks! I'm glad that have the chance to thank you for that, now. The black knight didn't bother us much, it just chased us straight into a demon. We made it out okay, though. Hopefully we can meet under less stressful circumstances next time.

What does it mean to be a chosen undead?"

She took the letter to Anthy and asked if she had anything to add. After reading it over, she smiled but shook her head no.

Utena struggled to think of more things to write. She wasn't sure if she wanted to entrust them with too much information about her recent interactions with the Duelists.

Finally, she wrapped up the letter with a simple farewell.

"We hope your journeys are safe (and that no more knights stab you in the back).

Yours truly,

Utena Tenjou and Anthy Himemiya"

She left the letter with the crestfallen warrior, who took the piece of paper with a huff.

"I hope this isn't going to be a regular occurrence," he said as he shoved the letter into a pocket. "I'm not some trained pigeon, you know."

"That chosen undead did keep me from getting cooked in the Burg," she replied. "The least I could do is give them my thanks."

"That chosen undead is about as intelligent as a brick," he retorted. "I'm honestly surprised they could write you the letter in the first place."

She ignored the insults and decided to ask him the same question she had posed in the letter. "What does that mean? To be a chosen undead?"

His face darkened. "It means next to nothing. Why don't you go pester Knight Lautrec with your questions? He gossips far more than he should. You can go and talk each other's ears off."

Utena started to reply, but the warrior cut her off as he rested his chin on his hand and looked away. "I'm not up for chatting. Leave me alone."

She frowned, but decided to follow his advice. Lautrec was sitting in the grass across from the firekeeper's cage.

His golden helm turned to face her. "We meet again, Miss Duelist. Did you run out of people to talk to up above?"

She pursed her lips and sat on the ground adjacent to him. He wasn't wrong; the crestfallen warrior was cranky, Miki was brooding, Wakaba had fallen asleep, Anthy was characteristically deflective of conversation, and Petrus had offered her a copper coin to get her to leave him alone.

"I was curious if you could tell me what the whole chosen undead thing was about," she answered. Lautrec tilted his helm as he thought about it.

"I've heard Velka, the Goddess of Sin, has some part in choosing the undead. I think she's just trying to stay relevant in the deteriorating politics of the gods. That crow up there is probably one of hers. Not a lot of good she's done, what with how many chosen undead have marched through this place and how few Bells of Awakening have been rung." He chuckled. "That man who wastes away at the fire was likely one of them. Perhaps he rang the first bell on his own, but he's too cowardly to venture into the swamp to ring the second."

She frowned. "But what's the purpose of it? Why send people out to ring bells?"

"It's a test." At her continued confusion, he explained further. "The gods want to find an undead worthy enough to link the fire." She still looked lost, and he spoke with exasperation. "Do you _not_ know about the First Flame?"

"I'm not from around here," she answered apologetically. Lautrec stared at her, his expression unreadable behind his helm.

"The First Flame," he said slowly, "is the driving force behind life in this realm. It contained the first souls and gave power to the Lords. The gods are primarily concerned with keeping the flame lit and preventing the world from falling to the dark. Bonfires are linked to it, and offerings of humanity are used as kindling. Many years ago, Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, gave himself to the flame so that it could burn brightly again, but even that hasn't staved off the dark forever. The next chosen undead is to link the fire and continue the age, but first they must prove that they are strong enough to do so properly and not just be consumed into ash. Hence, the trials of the bells."

Utena scratched her head. "I think I've got it."

"Now, you tell me something." Lautrec leaned forward. "About your Duelist friends. What are they trying to achieve?"

"Ah." She smiled nervously. "I'm as in the dark as you are, to be honest. You'd be better off asking Miki."

"Then about your quiet companion," he replied. "Is she a Duelist?"

"Oh, Himemiya?" She paused, thinking it over. "She's involved, but she doesn't fight."

"The sword that you pulled from her. Is it some form of spell?"

She struggled to answer. "I…think so? She always recites something before doing it, but I never catch what she says. Something about the roses, which makes sense. About a castle." She tugged at her memory, feeling like something important was just beyond her grasp. "About something called Dios."

"Dios," he repeated. "The name is not familiar to me."

"Me either," she said with a sigh. She blinked as she noticed that the firekeeper had shifted in her cage and was cautiously looking out at them. As soon as she saw Utena looking, her gaze quickly dropped to the floor, and she turned her head away.

Lautrec saw the exchange and laughed dryly. "If you're worried about confidentiality, she won't tell a soul about what you've said. She can't." His tone dropped from darkly humorous to encroaching upon anger. "She hasn't got a tongue. Some sense of duty that those firekeepers have, isn't it? Or, if they're found lacking, duty is certainly given to them."

"What?" Utena looked at him with concern and spoke in a hushed whisper.

"Firekeepers tend the flames and hold the countless humanity used as kindling. I've heard it can be excruciating. A pitiful waste, if you ask me."

Utena was unsure if he meant the act of firekeeping or the firekeeper herself. Feeling uncomfortable, she stood.

"Knight Lautrec, I thank you for the history lesson, but I think I'll be going. I'll keep you updated if I find out more about the Duelists, though."

He nodded and was silent. Utena gave a small bow and retreated to the bonfire circle.

Anthy had asked to return to the garden and restock her supply of roses, and Wakaba agreed to go along as protection. A few scimitar-wielding skeletons menaced them in the graveyard, but they quickly outpaced them on the path.

Utena carefully hoisted Anthy to the ledge above, then climbed up herself. With some struggling, they both pulled Wakaba and her heavy armor up to their level and sat in the grass as they caught their breath.

They approached the greenhouse cautiously. Both Utena and Wakaba held their swords at the ready. The rocks Utena had piled in front of the entrance were scattered and the door had been wrenched wide open. However, there was no sign of Saionji being present, and they soon relaxed and sat on the ground as Anthy collected the blossoms.

When Anthy had finished, they all sat near the freshwater spring and comfortably shared the silence. Utena closed her eyes as the scent of the roses washed over her.

Somewhere, a distant memory pulled, but it slipped away.

After they had returned, the crestfallen warrior waved her over.

He handed her an unfolded piece of parchment. "You just missed them."

"Thanks," she replied as she sat by the bonfire and looked over the letter.

The letter read:

"Greetings!

I'm very glad that you've made it back to the Shrine without harm. I actually _did _get backstabbed by a knight again, over in the Parish. It isn't that big a deal when you're Undead!

As for being a Chosen Undead in particular, I'm still in the dark. Before this, I was locked away in an asylum full of others like myself. A knight from Astora died trying to release us all. Perhaps I was chosen because I managed to escape? I'm sure the abnormally large bird has something to do with it. Does that make all the Undead left behind Un-chosen Undead?

I've missed out on a lot since I was put in that asylum. A man named Solaire, from Astora, has been helping me catch up on the history that passed me by. He also says that he assisted you in rescuing a girl from a swamp. Except that she didn't need saving? It all sounded very interesting. I'll be going down to that swamp once I finish ringing the bell in the Parish, so I could use your advice!

Yours,

a chosen undead."

Smiling, she started to write her reply.

"Hi!

Solaire did help us! So did a few other people that you might run into on your quest. Knight Lautrec of Carim wears fancy gold armor. He's kind of standoffish, but I think he means well. He was a lot of help when we went through the Depths. Laurentius of the Great Swamp also traveled with us. He's a pretty spectacular pyromancer! He's down in the swamp with the girl we were supposed to save. Her name is Kozue, she wants to be a pyromancer, too. I'm sort of friends with her brother, Miki."

She frowned, still unsure of if she wanted to write about the Duelists.

"I think the best advice for the swamp is to wear light clothing. It's awfully hot down there. If you're going there through the Depths, avoid the butcher ladies. Also, don't get too confused by how many keys you're going to need. Lautrec also mentioned something about basilisks? They sound pretty dangerous.

Good luck!

Utena Tenjou and Anthy Himemiya"

Utena yawned as she folded up the letter and handed it over to the crestfallen warrior. He huffed but didn't complain as he placed the parchment in his pocket.

She found a comfortable spot close to the bonfire and rested her head on her hands. As she drifted off, the familiar shadows made their appearance.

One shadow turned to the other. "Oh, how will I ever be happy? There's so many things that I want!"

"Well, have you tried paying for them?" The other shadow held up a coin.

"No, no. The things that I want can't be bought." The shadow lifted her hand just in time to block the coins tossed at her head.

"Can't be bought? What kind of things do you want that can't be bought?" The shadow was searching through her pockets, tossing out spare change and crumpled slips of paper.

"Maybe true happiness. Maybe true friendship. Maybe true love." The shadow put a finger on her chin as she thought.

"Ah, so you want myths!" She was still searching through her pockets for something. "Like unicorns, or dragons, or a brave and noble knight!"

"I think I've seen all three of those things in the last week," the shadow replied. "Are they really that mythical?"

"That was a horse with a broomstick on its head, and a drake, and knave," the other shadow explained.

The shadow threw up her hands in frustration. "Fine, fine! How do I go about getting the real thing?"

The other shadow rooted deep in her pocket. "I suppose it would take a miracle."

"Okay! How do I get a miracle? Can I pay for it?"

"Yes, indeed!" The other shadow finally found what she was looking for. She pulled a pair of scissors from her pocket and snipped them in the air.

"Every miracle needs a sacrifice," the shadow with the scissors explained with a jolly tone.

"Ah…" The first shadow opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue.

Utena closed her eyes as she heard the scissors snap shut.

When she awoke, the shadows were gone, as was the crestfallen warrior. His absence was almost unnerving, and she looked around the shrine in confusion.

Wakaba also seemed to be missing. A small amount of relief came to her as she realized that her friend must have convinced him to go off on some small adventure. Knowing the warrior, it would have been no small feat. Utena had offered to go a few times, but Wakaba insisted that it wasn't safe due to her non-undead status. Even after explaining about the protection of the roses, Wakaba had disagreed, explaining that she couldn't bear the thought of possibly being responsible for the death of a non-undead, let alone that of a close friend. Despite her saying that she was content, Utena had seen the boredom growing in Wakaba while she was staying in the Shrine. She had probably ended up dragging the crestfallen warrior kicking and screaming to go and fight a dragon or something like that.

As she smiled at the absurdity of the idea, Utena noticed a man sitting on the ledge beneath the giant crow. Long, dull red hair fell past his shoulders, and he was wearing the familiar outfit of a Duelist.

He smiled when he noticed she was staring at him. He jumped down from the ledge and approached the bonfire with his hands in his pockets.

"Tenjou, isn't it?" He sat beside her with more familiarity than she liked.

She crossed her arms and looked at him warily. "Yeah. Who are you?"

"I am a Duelist, but it would be more to your advantage to think of me as a friend, not an enemy." He leaned back and sighed. "Touga Kiryuu, at your service."

"I suppose it's nice to meet you," she replied. He smirked.

"You've successfully completed two duels," he said quietly. "Are you curious as to when the next one will be?"

"Hopefully never," she retorted. "What's the point of them, anyway? Bragging rights?"

"The Bride," he answered. "The Bride, and the rights to her power."

She was about to reply but was interrupted by the loud tolling of a bell. It rang clearly from somewhere above the Shrine, and as if in response, Touga stood and began to walk away.

"The first Bell of Awakening has rung. Tenjou, you may want to visit your friend in the Parish."

Utena leapt to her feet. "The Parish-? Wait! Touga! Which friend?"

He didn't deign to respond. He disappeared behind a stone wall, and Utena felt unsafe chasing after him without a rose. Gritting her teeth, she decided to follow his advice.

She figured that the fastest and safest way to the Parish was via the elevators. After retrieving Anthy, she walked past Petrus and ascended the small stairwell. One elevator was set at their level. Utena went on it and pressed her foot tentatively on the raised tile on the center of the platform. After a few moments, the elevator began to rise.

She noticed that a second elevator was lowering as a counterweight. As it descended past them, she got a glimpse of a very confused looking woman wearing white robes. Their eyes locked for a moment, but she soon fell out of sight as Utena's elevator platform reached the church.

The metal gate slid to the side, revealing two lost looking armored clerics.

Utena and Anthy left the elevator and shuffled out of the way. After a few silently questioning glances, the two clerics stepped onto the platform and descended to the Shrine.

Passing through the Parish was surprisingly easy. Many of the hollows were in heaps on the floor, and Utena guessed that the chosen undead or some other fighter had been through the area recently.

She began by checking on Andre, who was up to his usual smithing in the basement of the old church. He seemed to be perfectly fine and greeted her warmly. She also noticed that the odd Catarina knight was still waiting patiently by the closed gateway.

Solaire was the only other person she could think of. They took the path beneath the bridge, stopping only to fight off the occasional rat. Eventually, they made their way to the stairwell leading to the bridge walkway.

Utena peeked her head over the stone landing. A few hollows idled, but the dragon was blessedly absent. She looked back to Anthy, who nodded and grasped her hand.

The two made a dash for the far end of the bridge. A few shield-bearing hollows growled and turned towards them, but they were soon far enough away that the hollows lost interest. Safely beneath the roof that connected the bridge to the outer wall, Utena smiled and put her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

The reprieve was short; Utena heard the sound of clashing metal and motioned for Anthy to stay behind her. She cautiously leaned forward and looked around the pillar. On the balcony over the cloudy expanse, she could see Solaire fighting with an unknown figure.

Solaire was on the offensive, but his opponent was constantly challenging his forward movement by rushing his left side. Their burnished gold armor glinted in the sunlight, and the teal enamel designs seemed to ripple as the warrior danced around his sword's jabs with ease. Their sword looked unexpectedly heavy for their evasive fighting style, and while they seemed to favor wielding it in two hands, they still managed to swing it on occasion with one.

Utena drew her sword and slowly walked forward. From the upper level of the balcony, she could get the drop on the attacker and knock them to the ground. Solaire's attacks had gradually been pushing the fight towards the short set of stairs below, and the attacker's back was currently towards her. With a running start, she could jump and land on them with full force.

To her surprise, Solaire suddenly backed away from the fight and waved at her. Utena stared at him in shock.

To her further astonishment, the armored figure turned to face her and pulled off their helmet. A mass of curled orange hair fell to the warrior's shoulders. She looked up at Utena and smiled widely.

"No need for you to look so worried; I was just testing myself against your friend here. Engaging in, ah, what did you call it again?" She turned to Solaire as she sheathed her greatsword on her back.

"Jolly cooperation," he answered happily. "Although sparring isn't the type of cooperation I usually take part in, it was still highly invigorating."

"So, Utena," the woman said with a questioning tone. "I've heard that you've defeated both Saionji and Miki. Is that truly so?"

Utena narrowed her eyes. "Yes."

The woman tilted her head. "Interesting."

"You're a duelist, aren't you?" Utena clenched her fist and felt the rose crest on her finger press against her palm. The woman laughed.

"I am. But unlike other Duelists, I have no desire for the Rose Bride. Speaking of which, where is that girl?"

Utena looked back as Anthy stepped around the stone column. Her face was as impassive as ever. Juri offered her a shallow bow, which Anthy replied to with a small curtsy.

"You look the same as ever. How is the garden?"

"The roses are thriving, Miss Juri."

"It's Missus Juri now. You've missed out on a lot while you were in the woods."

Anthy smiled. "Ah, Missus Juri. Congratulations. Are you Juri Tsuchiya now?"

Juri's smile faltered. "No. Still Arigusawa."

Now it was Anthy's turn to look lost. "Oh? Is that so?"

"We'll have to catch up with each other later." She returned her attention to Utena. "So, you defeated Miki. More impressively, you managed to get him out of his house. I was able to talk to him briefly when he left for the Shrine. Miki had only positive things to say about you, actually. He said you acted very nobly towards him, as if you were some old royalty. Do you fancy yourself a prince?" She tilted her head. "Your outfit is quite telling."

Fighting off self-consciousness, Utena squared her shoulders. "Maybe I do. I just try to do what I think is right. Does that count as being noble?"

Juri smiled. This time, it was oddly genuine. "Perhaps it did, once. Say, why don't you spar with me for a bit? Not a duel," she clarified, seeing alarm cross Utena's face. "No roses. Just swords."

"I—I suppose," she answered. "But why?"

"Unlike other Duelists, I try to actually improve my skills from time to time." Juri placed a hand on the hilt of her greatsword. "Why don't we go a couple rounds? I want to see what managed to take the Bride away from both of her former paramours."

Utena turned to Anthy, who simply stared back. With a small smile, she removed her rose and handed it to the Bride.

Utena went to the lower level of the balcony and faced Juri. Anthy stood at the edge of the upper level while Solaire sat adjacent to her, watching the proceedings with interest.

Juri bowed, her curled hair tumbling over her armor. She replaced her helm and held her sword at the ready.

Utena returned the gesture. She drew her longsword and lifted it, trying to take the balanced position she had seen Miki take during his duel.

Juri called out from across the balcony. "You think you can fight with a stance like that? Weight on your back leg, not the front. Lower the elbows." As she spoke, she began advancing towards her. "Prepare yourself to move quickly, not to stand there like a statue." She broke into a run and prepared to swing, and Utena dodged to the side just in time. She leapt from the backswing and ducked as Juri recovered quickly from the miss and swung again.

She took a few tentative stabs, which Juri deflected easily. Utena knew that she was leaving openings, but Juri was refusing to take them, instead letting Utena tire herself out trying to break her defense. She began trying to strafe to the side, and Juri pivoted in response. The back-and-forth continued, with Juri blocking near-effortlessly and Utena feeling too nervous to push further.

She tried getting to Juri's side one last time, and the greatsword came crashing down overhead. The stone floor sent rubble flying as the blade carved into it.

"Stop holding back," Juri yelled. "Or is fighting without your Bride protecting you too frightening?" She pulled it from the floor and swung the greatsword two-handed, making wide sweeps that made Utena stumble backwards. "Feeling too naked without your rose, Prince?"

Juri was still playing defensively, but her swings were further-reaching and more often. Utena was constantly dodging and barely managing to block. Every time the greatsword skated off the side of her own, the impact felt like it could shatter her hands.

Juri was about to say something, but she coughed and paused momentarily.

Gritting her teeth, Utena took advantage of the opening and jabbed at Juri's shoulder with her sword.

The downward strike of the greatsword cleaved her longsword in two. The blade clattered to the stone floor, and Utena held up the hilt in shock.

Juri lunged. The sharp edge of her sword stopped just centimeters from Utena's face, and she flinched away, feeling her heart pounding.

"Dead." Juri removed the sword from its dangerously close position and sheathed it on her back.

A smile slowly grew on Utena's face. "Well! I'm glad that we won't be fighting for real!"

"As am I. You do have skill, Tenjou. You just weren't using it."

"You do have armor on," she replied. "I was without a rose and without anything stopping me from losing a leg."

Juri crossed her arms. "I know what I'm doing. If I had wanted you to lose a leg, you would know. Don't you trust me?"

"No," she answered cheerfully. They both laughed.

Utena turned as Anthy approached her and replaced her rose. Solaire had picked up the broken blade of Utena's sword and was looking it over.

"Have you been using any repair powder on this?" He held up the blade as he asked.

Utena frowned. "I completely forgot," she admitted, remembering the bag she had bought from the undead merchant.

"Ah. Well, no matter. I am sure Andre would welcome the business," he said as he handed her the piece of metal. She held on to it gingerly.

Juri shook her head. "No need to buy a new one. It's my fault that it broke. I have quite a collection back at home; if you wish, you can come by and take your pick. We do have a lot to talk about, especially if you want to keep your title as champion. You're welcome to come, too," she added, nodding to Solaire.

"I'd be honored," he replied. "I do admit, I am very curious about this Duelist business."

"Let's walk and talk. The house isn't too far away; we'll just be going to the inner part of the Parish." Juri began leading the way, strolling at a relaxed pace.

The group conversed as they traveled. The way to Juri's home was thankfully bereft of hollows, and they were able to walk at ease.

"You've dueled successfully twice," Juri explained. "That's a good start."

Utena frowned. "How many more are there going to be? One for each Duelist? How many Duelists are out there?"

"I would hope not. Tracking down everyone with a rose crest these days would be nearly impossible. Miki and I are the only ones that remain near the Burg. The rest either fled or were killed. I know of a few that went to Astora," she said, looking over at Solaire. "Have you heard any tales of them?"

He shook his head. "This organization is completely foreign to me. If they have acted in Astora, I have not heard of it."

"What other Duelists are still around?" asked Utena.

"Well, you've had the pleasure of meeting Saionji. I'm sure he's handling losing his title well." She laughed and pointed to a narrow stone archway. "Through here. The walk isn't much further."

Utena thought back to the man she had met in the Shrine as she followed Juri into the hallway. "Do you know a Touga Kiryuu?"

"Oh, Touga? Of course. He's—"

A hollow leapt forth from within the hall, brandishing an axe. It gurgled and swung the blade at Juri's chest, where it bounced off the armor with a loud _clang_. Utena backed away in surprise and tried to draw her sword, but remembered with panic that she no longer had one.

Juri silently looked at the undead. The hollow wound up for another swing. As it raised its axe above its head, Juri's foot planted into its chest. While it stumbled backwards, she unsheathed her sword and swung it downwards in one fluid motion.

The hollow was nearly rent in half, and it fell to the floor harmlessly. Juri stepped over the body and continued walking. "Anyway, as I was saying. Touga is the bastard child of some far-off nobleman. He isn't really aristocracy, but that doesn't stop him from acting like it. He's been a duelist for as long as I can remember, although I don't recall him ever being a victor. Himemiya, has he ever won?"

"No," she answered as she picked her way over the corpse. "Much like you, he feels no desire to be the champion."

"Why would he? He's already got everything he wants. In any case, I don't trust him. Just because he doesn't duel doesn't mean he's left the game. He was the one that convinced Saionji to challenge Miki." Her voice became tinged with sadness. "That poor boy never saw it coming."

"What about Sir Ruka, Missus Juri?" Anthy sounded genuinely curious.

Juri was silent for a few moments before responding.

"Ruka was a political rival of mine, as well as a fellow Duelist," she explained to Utena. "I respected him, but I was never attracted to him. Many thought that perhaps we were lovers, despite his public relationship with another woman. The rumors lessened little after their marriage, but changed quite a bit with his death." She sighed. "The part you've missed, Himemiya, is that I was accused of his murder and I found myself in love with his widow."

Anthy's eyes were wide. "Oh, my!"

Juri shrugged. "It's all ancient history, now. Once this place was overrun with Undead, there was nobody around to point any fingers. The rumors were finally put to rest, and now I can live with her in relative peace."

"That's—that's great, then," Utena said with astonishment. "Aside from all the dying, that is."

Juri nodded, and they walked in silence for a few minutes.

"There was something I was wondering about," said Solaire. "When we were speaking with Miki, he mentioned visiting a lake that I believe is now a part of Darkroot Basin. I know that the flow of time is strange here, but he was surprised to hear that the area is unsafe now, as if he hadn't been there in quite a long time. He and his sister appear quite young, and free of the curse of the Undead. You also speak of being around before the Burg fell. How could that be so?"

"It's one of the perks of being a Duelist," Juri answered as she held up her rose crest ring. "A side effect of our brush with eternity."

Utena blinked. "Eternity?"

"You haven't explained _anything_, have you?" Juri looked back at Anthy with a smirk. Before Anthy could reply, she took a sharp turn, and down an offshoot of the hallway was an innocuous wooden door. Juri retrieved a key and unlocked it. Holding open the door, she waved them inside.

The door led to a dim room lit by a few candles. Once they were safely inside, Juri shut the door and led them to another. Eventually, they reached a well-stocked armory. Juri lit a few more candles, and Utena looked around the room with awe. Dozens of swords were fastened upon racks on the wall. Axes, maces, and other equipment rested on shelves. Bushels of arrows jut forth from sturdy quivers, and a smattering of shields rested against the wall.

"This is quite a collection," Solaire said approvingly.

"Ruka had a hand in keeping the militia armed," she explained. "Feel free to take what you want. If I can recommend," she said, as she picked a sword from the wall. "This is similar to the one you had."

Utena took it with a nod and swung it experimentally. She was no expert, but it felt like it would be fine to use. "Thank you, Juri," she said as she sheathed it at her side.

"It's the least I can do. Shall we go have some drinks? You can meet my alleged partner in crime, as well."

Utena grinned as she followed Juri out of the room. Soon, the group was led to a well-lit foyer that had a wide staircase leading to the floor above.

"Shiori!" Juri cupped a hand around her mouth and shouted. "I'm back!"

"Ah, Juri!" An airy voice cried out from atop the stairs. A woman wearing a simple but richly purple dress appeared at the railing. "Welcome home—and guests? Oh, you should have let me know earlier! I would have made much more for dinner—" As she spoke, she quickly descended the stairs and ran to Juri, who grasped her carefully in an armored hug.

"Not to worry. I'm sure we can scrounge something up," Juri replied happily, ending the embrace and stepping back. She spoke to the group as she started ascending the stairs. "If you don't mind, I'm going to change into something more comfortable. I'm sure that Shiori can keep you entertained for a few minutes."

"Of course!" Shiori laughed and waved them over to another doorway. "So tell me about yourselves! How did you meet my dear Juri?"

"She challenged me to a sparring match, which was most entertaining." Solaire removed his helm as he spoke, and Utena noticed that he had a stripe of sunburn on his face that aligned with the gap in the metal. "Solaire of Astora, Warrior of Sunlight. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Shiori."

Shiori laughed. "A pleasure to meet you, as well! And oh, she's always out doing that. She says it's her duty to keep herself well trained, but I think she just wants to brag to me when she wins," she said with a conspiratorial air. She led the way to a dining room, where a large table was already set for two. She opened a cabinet and began setting places for the rest of them.

"And you two?" she asked Utena and Anthy as she placed glasses on the table.

"This is Anthy Himemiya," Utena said as she gestured to her. "I'm Utena Tenjou. Juri challenged me to a fight, too. I totally lost," she admitted with a laugh. "She did break my sword, though. She invited me back here to give me a new one."

"Ah, I see," Shiori replied with a smile. "Would you happen to be one of her Duelist friends? I noticed your ring."

"Oh, yeah. I'm the current champion Duelist, I guess," she replied with a nervous smile.

Shiori tilted her head in response. "Oh! Good for you, I suppose."

Juri arrived in the doorway, wearing a white blouse with a light orange vest and trousers. A golden locket rested on her chest and glinted in the candlelight. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," she said cheerfully. "Shall we eat?"

Shiori had made fresh bread and soup, and there was enough of it that they each had a small portion. To supplement, she had brought up dried fruit and honey that went well with a sweet flatbread, even though it had gone slightly stale. The food was as pleasant as the conversation; Solaire was recounting how he had assisted an undead fight the gargoyles guarding the Bell of Awakening.

"So for some reason unknown to me, that undead kept insisting upon hitting the gargoyle's tail. Even after a second one flew down to assist, they kept chasing the first around in circles, trying to cut off the gargoyle's rear. I did my best to stave off the other, until finally, the tail detached and left behind a halberd. They went to use it upon the other gargoyle, but it parried with its own tail and sent the blade flying off the roof of the church. All that work wasted! I had to admire their tenacity, though. I've helped others defeat the gargoyles dozens of times, but I'm not sure I've seen anyone tackle the fight with as much fortitude."

"Oh, no! I've tried using a gargoyle halberd before. They're quite unwieldy. That undead's time may have been wasted either way." Juri's laughter devolved into coughing, and she covered her mouth with her napkin. Shiori took the opportunity to refill her drink, and Juri took the glass gratefully.

Solaire nodded thoughtfully. "I'll have to tell them that, if I see them again."

Over time, the food dwindled, and the conversation turned again to the duels.

"So how do you feel, having the title of champion?" Juri asked, idly swirling her drink in the glass.

"I don't really know," Utena admitted. "Good, I guess. I've earned it, right?"

"Perhaps." Juri smiled. "I guess I should be asking you about the more proper term for it. How do you feel about being the Engaged?"

Utena frowned. "The Engaged?"

"She is the Rose _Bride_," Juri responded, waving her hand towards Anthy.

"Being the champion means that we're _engaged_?" she asked incredulously.

"Every champion is. Before you, Saionji. Before Saionji, Miki. Before Miki, Ruka, very briefly. Before that, me. Then Ruka, me, Ruka again. I don't know quite who Ruka defeated; I think Saionji. Perhaps someone else. Not that it matters. No one yet has been able to hold on to the title long enough to be a _real_ champion," she said wistfully.

"But…did Himemiya have to be engaged, like you said, to everyone?" Utena asked, concern growing in her voice.

"As the Rose Bride, yes."

"Then…" She trailed off and turned to look at Anthy. "Did…did you like living with Saionji?" Utena asked her the question with wide eyes.

"I was engaged to him at the time," Anthy replied.

Utena's face fell. "Yeah, but…were you happy?"

Anthy blinked at her. "Happy?"

"The Rose Bride pledges herself to whoever the champion is," Juri said flatly.

"That's ridiculous, though!" Her hands clenched into fists. "Passing some poor girl around and making her stick with the winner, no matter how horrible a person they might be? What's the point? What does anyone gain from that?!"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Juri glared at her. "If you don't want to take part, then take off your rose crest."

Utena drew back, affronted. "No!"

"Why not? There's no point in you being the champion if you're against the fact that it exists—"

"There is a point!" Utena pressed her hands against the table. "If I stay the champion, then Himemiya doesn't have to get tossed around anymore!"

"Then let's duel!" Juri jumped to her feet. "Prove to me you're really capable of being the champion Duelist!"

Utena stood as well, but her expression was now one of despair. "Juri, I don't want to fight you!"

"You call yourself a Duelist?" Juri's bold tone was sliding quickly into outright anger. "I'm challenging you, right now, to prove to me that you deserve your title!"

Utena looked around for support. Anthy's face was inscrutable, as always. Shiori was standing off to the side of the table, looking strangely satisfied. Only Solaire offered a response that was approaching helpful by giving her a bewildered shrug.

She took a deep breath. "Meet us at Firelink Shrine after you prepare yourself and really think this over—"

Juri slammed her hand on the table. "No. Right here, right now. Unless you prefer to take the coward's way and forfeit, _prince_."

Anger flared inside her and Utena clenched her fists. "If that's what you want. Anthy…will you prepare us?"

Shiori and Juri stood in the far corner of the room as Anthy opened up her wooden box. Shiori was smiling and whispering something in Juri's ear. Utena frowned when Juri tilted her head back and laughed.

"Sorry you got dragged into this." Utena gave Solaire an apologetic look.

He shook his head. "I fear that this duel may get out of hand. I am more than glad to stay and help if it escalates too far."

"I hope it doesn't come to that." She removed her new sword from her side and held the hilt out towards him. "Can you hold on to this until we're done?"

"Yes, of course." He held it for a moment, then looked at it in confusion. "Wait, _why-?_"

Anthy arrived to place a small white rose upon Utena's lapel. Juri stepped forward to receive her own orange blossom.

Utena looked into Anthy's eyes for something, anything. She felt that perhaps there was warmth there, or encouragement, but she wondered if that was just her hope blinding her to the truth. If Anthy really did pledge herself to whoever the current victor was, then she didn't care about the lost, wandering, confused girl trying to live like a hero. If she cared at all, she cared about her as a champion.

Anthy smiled at her, and she felt her doubt wash away. She felt the rose crest on her finger, a reassuring presence. If Anthy wanted a champion, then she would be one.

As Anthy laid back in her arms, Utena strained her ears to hear what it was that she recited.

"Rose of the noble castle…Power of Dios that sleeps within me. Heed your master, and come forth."

The light gathered upon her chest and grew, filling Utena's vision. The sword appeared, and she pulled.

Anthy stepped away to stand against the wall with Shiori. As soon as she was out of the way, Juri rushed forward and struck Utena's sword aside. Barely managing to hold on to the hilt, Utena hurriedly dodged, avoiding the wide sweep of Juri's blade. Juri kept pressing forward, causing Utena to sidestep around chairs and almost crash into the table. She grabbed the back of one chair and pushed it over, hoping to slow Juri's advances.

Juri simply laughed and kicked the chair out of the way. "Trying to play dirty, prince? Shouldn't you be fighting with honor?"

Utena had to jump as the greatsword swept by her feet. Trying to keep her balance, she grabbed onto the table. The cloth covering slid as she stumbled backwards, sending silverware tumbling to the floor. She cringed as she heard glasses shatter.

Juri _tsk_ed as she stabbed her sword forward. "How rude of you. Those are antiques."

Utena realized that if she kept moving backwards, she would be cornered between the table and the wall. Gritting her teeth, she parried Juri's next stab and jumped on top of the table. While Juri was recovering, she sprinted down the length, trying not to trip over plates.

Juri made a growl of frustration and turned to chase after her. Utena leapt from the far end of the table and took the spare seconds she had earned to prepare herself.

The greatsword arced overhead, and Utena dove out of the way, flinging the door behind her open in the process. Juri swung again, and Utena ran through the doorway and out of the room.

Juri was advancing faster than Utena could retreat. She stumbled backwards through entryways and navigated through narrow, dusty hallways. With Juri's relentless attacks, she couldn't even find the time to just turn and run. The constant clashing of their swords beat out a tattoo in her head—_clang! clang! clang!_—that only ever seemed to speed up as her opponent pressed forward.

"Is this really the best you can do?" Juri mocked her as her blade sent splinters flying from the hardwood floor. Utena scrambled out of the way, narrowly avoiding losing a foot.

"I must have overestimated you." As Juri hefted her sword from the floor, Utena noticed that Juri was finally starting to tire. Sweat had broken out on her forehead, and her face looked pallid. Utena briefly wondered if she was in pain from overexerting herself, but the thought was interrupted by another downward strike from the greatsword.

Utena backed through another doorway that opened into a dusty room. Thick curtains draped the walls and an unlit stone fireplace was centered beneath a large clock face. Furniture was pushed flush against the walls and hidden beneath dark sheets. Utena felt panic as Juri continued mercilessly. She began to trip on a fallen sheet and tried to throw her weight forward, crashing into Juri's shoulder. She felt Juri's arm grip her and push on her chest.

She fell backwards with the force of Juri's shove. Flinging her hands out, she hoped to catch the mantle of the fireplace before she fell into the ashes and stone. Her hands passed through only air and her eyes went wide as she continued to fall.

Her back hit the ground and she hurried to roll to the side, protecting her rose with her hand.

However, the strike she was expecting never came. Juri was standing motionless, her sword held only loosely in her right hand.

Utena glanced at her in confusion, then turned to look at where the fireplace had been. The fireplace had completely disappeared and left an opening to a small room in its place.

Shiori called out from the hallway. "Juri…"

Inside the hidden room was a wooden chest. Juri narrowed her eyes and strode towards it.

"Juri, wait!" Shiori rushed across to her, stepping over Utena, who was watching the scene from the floor.

As Juri reached forward to open the chest, it creaked open with a hideous muffled giggle. Sinewy arms reached out and gripped onto her shoulders.

As quickly as the creature had revealed itself, Shiori had pulled a pendant from her pocket and threw it at the mimic. The charm exploded into a fine mist and Juri was released. The mimic yawned and seemed to fall into a trance, stretching its mouth open wide and revealing the chest's contents.

"Juri, Juri, listen to me…" Shiori plaintively held on to Juri's sleeves but was pushed away. Juri leaned down to inspect the items in the mimic's maw. Shiori started to fight back tears as Juri pulled out a nearly empty glass bottle and a handful of broken red spheres.

Juri made a noise of disgust and dropped the items to the floor. She turned to face Shiori, who was now openly sobbing.

Juri crushed her orange rose blossom in her hand and threw it to the side.

"Juri-!" Shiori reached out to her, but her hands were smacked away.

"You were poisoning me."

"I just wanted—you kept—"

"All of this time that I protected you, I took the blame, because I thought—I thought!"

"I just wanted you to stop leaving me behind!" Shiori cried.

Juri closed her eyes. "Did you do this to Ruka?"

Shiori couldn't respond with anything more than sobs. That seemed indicative enough for Juri, who turned away from her in revulsion.

"People accused me of being a murderer, a Darkwraith even, and you had the audacity to come to me knowing exactly what you did."

"Juri, I did it for you, I did it for you—I wanted to show you that I could be just as strong—you hated Ruka!"

Juri held up her hand, and Shiori went silent aside from sniffling.

"I want you gone. Take your _things_ with you," she said, kicking one of the cracked red eye orbs.

Shiori fell to her knees. "Juri, _please—_"

"Enough. Get out."

"Juri!"

She was met with only indomitable silence.

Trying and failing to hold back her weeping, Shiori grabbed the items on the floor and fled.

When she heard her rushed footsteps fade away, Juri took a deep breath and spoke to Utena.

"Forgive me for not being the most gracious host, but I think our little party has ended. I would be grateful if you and your friends left."

Utena cringed as she rose to her feet. "Juri, you don't have to apologize."

Juri's sword fell to the floor with a clatter. Utena winced at the sound.

"If you need us, we'll be at Firelink." Utena looked at her one last time before turning to leave. Anthy and Solaire were out in the hallway. Solaire looked a bit shell-shocked as he returned her sword.

Shiori had left the front door open in her escape. As they left the house, the overcast sky rumbled. Rain fell in scattered drops, then a steady shower, and then an outright downpour.

(Next time, on For Friendship, Perhaps : The rain stops, Firelink's population increases, and Touga breaks the usual sequence of events (but he's always been an odd one, hasn't he?))

(This chapter's title is from Tenshi Sozou Sunawachi Hikari.)

(It's been a rough week for me, but I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. As always, major thanks to my commenters and followers! You're the best.)


	5. times and the age, they never change

The rain quickly soaked through Utena's jacket as they walked the wide courtyard and looked for shelter. All of the doors they passed were sealed or blocked off by rubble. Water streaked down Anthy's glasses, and she had to repeatedly remove and wipe them off. Solaire offered to hold up his shield as a makeshift umbrella, and the two ducked beneath it thankfully.

After navigating through a few abandoned buildings and avoiding some waterlogged hollows, they reached the bonfire in the building that was often blocked off by the drake. The room was practically cozy compared to the downpour outside, and the crackling of the fire sounded familiar and reassuring.

Anthy untied and wrung out her hair, the rainwater spattering on the cobblestones. Utena ran her hand through her own a few times and tried not to cringe as she caught on tangles. Solaire removed his helmet and leaned forward as he re-tied his short ponytail.

The three sat around the bonfire in reflective silence. Utena idly wondered if the shadows would be making an appearance.

Solaire spoke up. "Have I told you the history of my covenant?"

Utena shook her head. "I don't think so. You're supposed to go around helping people in fights, right?"

"In part, yes." He smiled and stared into the flames as he talked. "The Warriors of Sunlight were organized under the guidance of the god of war that inherited the power of the sun. Behind you, upon that balcony, is an old altar to him." He pointed to it, and Utena turned to look. A broken and overgrown statue stood there. She could make out the remains of legs, a sword, perhaps an arm.

"For reasons unknown to me, that god was banished from Lordran, but his presence is still felt if you know where to look. Wherever he is now, I know that he looks upon his warriors with favor. With enough dedication and time spent in the covenant, we are granted the ability to use some miracles that draw upon his power of the sun. That was the reason I left Astora for Lordran…it will sound foolish, I know," he said preemptively. "But so impressed was I by him that I decided to find my very own sun. Where better to begin searching than the birthplace of Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight?"

He paused in thought before continuing. "Earlier today, before I assisted that undead with the gargoyles, an odd man spoke with me. After I had told him of my goals, he offered me this." He held up a ring that glinted in the light of the fire and Utena's eyes went wide.

"He told me that if I seek that which shines, then I should don the ring and acquire the title of Duelist. I had my doubts about how doing so would interfere with my dedication to my covenant, but curiosity caused me to keep the ring. I will admit, the idea was tempting. But after what we just went through…" He frowned. "I want no part of it."

Utena let out a long sigh of relief. "I'm glad. I wouldn't want to fight you, Solaire."

"I feel the same, but not just because I consider you both to be friends. I suspect that man was trying to trick me into thinking that the power of the sun is one and the same as…what power it is you used to create that sword. Was that how you defeated the demon upon the bridge?"

She nodded. Solaire stared into the fire, looking as if he was unsure of what to say.

"Not to disparage you," he said carefully, addressing Anthy. "When I first caught glimpse of your ability, I really thought that, perhaps, you had some sort of connection to the founder of my covenant. My theory seemed to be supported when Miki implied that you had been in Lordran for quite some time, and Juri reinforced that by having known you when the Burg was still populated. My hopes were high, but upon seeing that power as closely as I did today…there's something _cold_ about it, isn't there? Please, take no offence, but it unnerves me."

"Oh, is that so?"Anthy's glasses flashed in the firelight as she looked up and smiled. "Think nothing of it."

The rain slowed to a drizzle, to a sprinkle, and finally the sun reappeared from behind the clouds.

Utena stood and stretched out her arms. "I think we'll be going back to Firelink if you want to come with us."

"Firelink Shrine is a tad too dreary for me. I may stay in the Parish for a while longer." Solaire stood and replaced his helm. "Which way do you plan on going? I'd be glad to walk you to the elevators. Those Balder knights seem to like patrolling the church."

"I'd be thankful for that," Utena admitted.

The trip to the church was fairly easy; Utena noted happily that the armored boar had been vanquished. The three Balder knights blocked the front door to the best of their ability, but Utena was able to draw them forward and keep them busy while Solaire flanked them.

Soon, they arrived at the gated elevators. Solaire held out his hand, where the rose crest ring rested on his palm. "You should probably take this, seeing as I have no need for it."

Utena nodded and took it from him. "By any chance, did the guy who gave this to you have red hair?"

"If my memory is correct, yes. Do you have an idea of who it was?"

She frowned. "Yeah. Touga, probably."

"Ah. Juri mentioned him."

"He influences who duels who, I guess. I'll have to keep my eye on him."

Solaire nodded and stepped back as she and Anthy walked onto the elevator platform. "Be careful," he said quietly as he waved.

Both Anthy and Utena waved back as the elevator dropped out of sight.

Utena glanced over at Anthy.

"Say, Himemiya…" She trailed off and looked away, watching the stony walls of the elevator shaft fly past.

"Yes, Miss Utena?"

"I know we're in dangerous places a lot of the time, and we don't get many chances to relax," she said rapidly. "But…are you happy?"

"Happy?" Anthy blinked at her. "With you?"

Utena nodded.

"I am engaged to you, Miss Utena."

"I know that," Utena replied with a grimace. "But are you _happy_?"

"If you wish for me to be happy, then I shall be happy."

Utena's face fell. "Aw, Himemiya. That isn't what I meant."

Anthy turned her face away to look outside of the elevator. They had reached the familiar grounds of the Shrine.

Below the stairs to the elevator, Petrus and the two clerics they had seen in the church were standing at ease. The two clerics snapped to attention when they saw them, but Petrus simply rolled his eyes.

"Girls, I implore you to not disturb the prayer of M'lady." He gestured to the walled-in area behind him, where the woman they had seen on the elevator was kneeling on the grass and speaking quietly.

Utena stage-whispered in response as she ushered Anthy away. "No problem!"

As they approached the bonfire, Utena noticed someone sitting close to the flames. She was hunched forward and had pulled her knees close to her chest.

Shiori turned away from the flames when she heard them walking towards her. Her face quickly cycled from despair, to recognition, to fury. Her hands clenched the fabric of her dress as she glared at them.

Utena took a step back almost instinctively and held up her hands in supplication.

"Here to rub your victory in my face?" Shiori's voice was low and tightly controlled. "Or did Juri send you? Has she decided that she would prefer me dead?"

"None of those things," she replied quickly. "I just live here."

Shiori's response was interrupted by a commotion beneath the bonfire circle. Utena spotted Kozue, covered in blood and muck, rushing up the stairs and making a beeline for the bonfire. She shoved an estus flask into the flames. "Does anyone have moss?!" she shouted as she glanced around the circle.

Utena heard metal clanking and saw Lautrec dragging an incredibly ill-looking Laurentius up the stairs. Kozue rushed over to him and dumped estus onto a hideous gash that ran from his shoulder to his hip. Even the estus didn't seem to be helping; he muttered feverishly and tried to hold the wound shut with his hands.

Anthy reached into her bag and pulled out a clump of dull purple moss. Kozue ran to her, grabbed it, and shoved it unceremoniously into his wound.

Laurentius groaned and passed out. Lautrec threw up his hands and stepped away. Kozue made a noise of frustration and ran back Anthy.

"I wanted him to make it to this bonfire-if he dies here he'll end up back in the sewer-more moss!" She snatched it from Anthy's outstretched hands and ran back to Laurentius.

Shiori stood up and frowned as she took in the scene. She slowly approached the panicking Kozue and handed her a moss that was covered in tiny white blooms.

Kozue took it without a second thought and applied it to the gash.

Miki, having heard the commotion from his resting spot near the well, ran to her side. "What happened?"

"We tried getting to the ruins but this stupid spider woman is blocking the way—"

Laurentius coughed as he came to. "She's not stupid," he muttered. "She's one of the Daughters of Chaos—"

"She wouldn't even let us get to the bell tower and kept barfing lava everywhere—"

"Pyromancy more advanced than any I've ever seen—"

"Could _at least_ put a shirt on—"

"Izalith was _so close-!"_

"And _then_, he died and I had to run back all the way to the bonfire, where it seemed like every last disgusting person living in Blighttown had decided to go—it was an ambush!"

"Some odd undead," Laurentius coughed. "Showed up just in time. Fought most of them off and let us escape."

"Didn't stop us from getting blasted with poison," Kozue retorted. "Miki, stop looking so smug and _help_."

Miki obliged, and they both dragged Laurentius over to the bonfire. Laurentius strained to reach out and touch the flames, then slumped and laughed with relief.

Kozue rubbed grime from her face as she sat on the ground beside him. Miki crouched and offered her a handkerchief. She snatched it from him and scrubbed until most of the dirt was removed.

Utena let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She noticed that Shiori had fled the scene at some point. Lautrec was leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed. One of the clerics had walked over in order to see what the commotion was, but was now already walking back to his fellows. Anthy actually looked somewhat relieved as she carefully placed moss back into her bag.

The Shrine settled. Shiori found a place to sit near the giant crow, where she could brood and ignore the others. Laurentius generally rested near the entrance to the water-filled part of the shrine, and he was occasionally accompanied by Kozue as they discussed their trip to Blighttown. A man named Griggs had also recently arrived and took up residence near the cliffside path. Utena had greeted him cheerfully, but he seemed shy and conversations with him quickly petered out into silence. She was able to gather more information about him by talking to Miki. The two had warmed to each other, as Miki had familiarity with Vinheim, where Griggs had lived before travelling to Lordran.

Griggs had apparently been saved from being mugged in the Lower Burg. The thieves there couldn't fight his sorcery directly, so they had locked him in an abandoned house and waited for him to starve to death. Thankfully, the Chosen Undead had heard his cries for help and released him.

Miki explained that Griggs had traveled in order to find Big Hat Logan, a legendary scholar and sorcerer. Utena attempted to use this as a talking point the next time she approached him. Upon being asked why he was searching for him, he gave her a wan smile.

"It's not that I am concerned for Master Logan's welfare. Even in this treacherous land, Logan's skills are unmatched. He is a true hero. No, the reason I seek Logan is..." He sighed and looked askance. "Well, it's really my own conceit, isn't it?"

Utena tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Master Logan is possibly the most powerful sorcerer produced by Vinheim. I had studied his work diligently and worked under him for some time…I thought he considered me his apprentice, but he ran off without informing me of his intent. I think, in part, this may be a test of my dedication." He shrugged as he glanced away. "At least, I hope it is…"

Utena frowned with sympathy. "Well, hopefully you find him soon. I'm sure once you two can talk it'll all be cleared up."

"I hope so, too." While it seemed like he appreciated the sentiment, he still had an air of disappointment about him.

She pursed her lips. "So, why the name Big Hat? Is that, like, some sort of protection spell he created?" She wasn't too sure about her guess, but the obvious answer just seemed so unlikely.

Griggs' grin was genuine. "Oh, no. He just wears a really big hat."

"Ah. Gotcha."

She sat in the grass with Kozue and Laurentius, not far from where Anthy was sitting quietly near the pool of water.

"So will you both be staying in the Shrine for a while, or will you be going back into the swamp?" Utena asked Kozue, who shrugged.

"Well…there doesn't seem to be much left down there that we can actually get to. As much as I hate to make it seem like Miki was right, I don't think Blighttown holds much promise."

"Oh." Utena offered a small smile. "Well, at least you were able to find that out for yourself. I'm sure Miki won't rub your face in it too much, right?"

"I'm sure he will," she replied with a sigh. "Not directly. Quietly, and in his own way."

"Your brother does seem to care a lot about you," said Laurentius. "Maybe he'll just be so glad that you've returned that he won't feel the need to be so passive-aggressive."

Kozue's face fell, and she idly tore grass from the ground in clumps as she spoke. "I don't know. Ever since our parents passed away…no, ever since he became a Duelist, really. He's changed so much from when we were younger. I mean, I'm sure that I've changed, too. But he expects me to stay the same forever…you know, I think that's why he likes Anthy so much," she added quietly, casting a sidelong glance to where she was sitting at the water's edge. "She never changes."

"Huh?" Utena turned and looked over her shoulder at her. "What do you mean?"

"She lived with us for a really long time." Kozue drew her knees to her chest. "I don't think she ever once said more than five words to me. Not that I wanted her to. To think that once I wanted her to be like my very own sister…ah, I should be sorry, shouldn't I? She's your Bride now."

"We've gotten along perfectly well in the time that we've been together," Utena replied, feeling affronted.

"And I'm glad that you have." Kozue smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong, I think that you two will do just fine. What she lacks in people skills you make up for in open friendliness, and what you lack in any sort of observational skills, well, she's always scheming something." She laughed at Utena's shocked expression, but quickly stifled it when Laurentius gently elbowed her.

"Aw, come on. Don't be rude," Laurentius chided.

"Yeah, yeah." She crossed her arms and tilted her head. "I have to remember to not be as insulting as I was in the swamp."

Laurentius laughed. "Those butchers deserved it. Miss Utena? Not so much."

"Promise me you won't start wearing a sack on your head," Kozue said as she grinned at Utena. "It's simply unfashionable. Though, if you've ever seen a butcher's face, putting a bag over it could be considered an improvement. You also have to promise me to keep your clothes _on_," she said with a grimace. "And to not fuse yourself with a spider. It doesn't matter how pretty your face is after that. It's just _tacky_."

"It is rather disheartening," Laurentius added with a sigh. "How, well, unwelcoming a Daughter of Chaos was to her devotees. I spend my whole life dedicated to the craft and journey all the way to Lordran just to be snubbed at the front gates of Izalith. I don't know why Quelaag was so hostile."

"We did try talking to her," Kozue replied. "She wouldn't listen."

"There must be something more going on," he said, staring pensively at the ground. "What hope is there left for aspiring pyromancers if Izalith is truly lost? The old masters of the Swamp are so limited in comparison. So many are too afraid to experiment with the craft, and it seems like the knowledge of the practice only dwindles with time." His countenance suddenly brightened and he looked up. "We could start our own school of pyromancy and teach it here at the shrine! All new techniques! No rules, no limits!"

"As cofounder, I'm vetoing the use of poison mist," Kozue said flatly.

Laurentius gave a sheepish smile. "Some rules, some limits."

When Utena returned to the bonfire, Touga was sitting in her usual spot. He greeted her with a smile and a wave. She waved in return, but her smile was more of a grimace.

"You defeated Juri," he said plainly as he patted the ground beside him. Utena remained standing and crossed her arms.

"I did. So?"

"I'm glad that you did. That's three duels, now. You're doing quite well."

"…Thanks." She sat cross-legged in the grass, a multiple feet away from him. "Does that mean I'm done? Or are you going to challenge me?"

"I feel no desire to be the champion. I do have _some_ awareness of my own limitations. The heroic lifestyle simply isn't for me," he said with a wink. Utena frowned at him.

"Nothing about these duels is heroic," she replied flatly.

Touga laughed. "You're telling me that you don't feel like a hero? Running about, solving people's problems. You even have your own permanent damsel in distress. Don't you feel proud when you're protecting the Bride?"

"Himemiya, you mean." She gave him a sidelong look and leaned forward. "You were awfully dramatic back when you told me to go into the Parish. What do you mean by the power that she holds?"

"Miracles." Utena's expression was unchanging, so he continued. "That which shines."

"Could you just be straightforward and—"

"Eternity," he replied. At that, she showed some recognition.

"Juri said something about that."

"Ah, did she? Juri always prided herself on knowing what the Bride was up to, even if she never got _too_ familiar. Perhaps she should have been more concerned with what her actual bride was doing in her spare time."

Utena narrowed her eyes. "Did…did you know about Shiori? About what she was doing?"

Touga tapped the side of his nose, and Utena's expression darkened.

"Why didn't you tell her—"

"I doubt that Juri would have believed me. I'm a well-known rumormonger. Wouldn't it be better for her to see the evidence herself?"

"But so much of that was left up to chance! I just tripped through a wall!"

"I had a few contingency plans," he replied nonchalantly. "I could have set the mimic loose, or Juri could have had a bit too much to drink. The way it went was far more impressive, wasn't it? The hero stumbling upon the evidence, the villain is cast out, and the victim…well, I'm sure Juri is finding ways to cope."

"But _why_?" Frustration edged into her voice as she stood and faced him. "Why send me in to do it? Why have us duel? And why—you gave Solaire a ring. Are you trying to get us to fight?"

"Ah." He smiled wanly. "He discussed that with you?"

"Yes! Why wouldn't he?"

"Hm." Touga rested his chin on his palm and looked askance. "You know, just as the Bride holds power now, you hold the potential to realize the same in time. The more you duel, the closer you come to doing so."

She frowned. "You mean like the sword?"

"Perhaps. If the rose of nobility is cultivated to blossom within you—"

"Touga." Utena let out a long sigh and tried to release the tension from her shoulders. "Nothing that you're saying is making _any _sense."

The look that he gave her in response surprised her in its softness. "I know." As he stood, he brushed off his pants, then shoved his hands into his pockets. "Remember, Tenjou. I'm on your side. I know you have the potential to do this, and I want nothing more than to see that potential realized."

Unsure of how to respond, she simply stared at him.

Shouting suddenly rang out from the stairs below the bonfire circle. Loud clanking announced the arrival of Wakaba, who was carrying armfuls of armor and what looked like a dragon's tooth. Behind her was an exhausted and fuming crestfallen warrior.

Wakaba dumped the gear unceremoniously near the flames, while the warrior trudged over to his usual spot and sat with a huff.

The forced nature of Wakaba's cheer was eminent even with her face obscured by her helm. "Hey, Utena! We're back."

"Wakaba—" She looked at her, then back to Touga, who was walking briskly away. She decided to approach the bonfire and look over the array of items Wakaba was dropping. "Welcome back! Where did you find all this stuff?"

"She's _insane_," the crestfallen warrior spat as he crossed his arms. "Kept trying to fight this pissed-off undead dragon—"

"I only died a couple times," she hurriedly explained. "Plus I was able to get all this cool armor!"

"So _stupid_. Armor for what? For you to keep running out and getting yourself killed?" He leaned forward, tucking his knees under his arms as he scowled.

Wakaba's voice was strained as she dropped the last of the items to the grass. "I would rather go out and at least try to do _something_ than sit around and wait for the world to end—"

"It doesn't matter if I sit here or if I go feed myself to the hydra! Nothing changes! Nothing gets better!" The warrior glowered and stared daggers at Wakaba, who had been stunned into silence. "If you go hollow out there, it's your own damned fault, and I say you deserve it!"

"Hey-!" Utena bristled, but her anger quickly turned to confusion as Wakaba brushed past her and started walking for the aqueduct.

"Wakaba!" She ran to catch up with her. Wakaba removed her helm as she strode ahead, and Utena struggled to keep her pace. "Are you leaving already? You just got here! Don't—don't let that guy get you down."

Wakaba hurriedly wiped tears from her eyes as Utena approached. Concern written plainly upon her face, Utena gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Wakaba…he's kind of a jerk to everyone. You can't take what he says to heart."

"Oh, I know." Wakaba offered a watery smile. "It isn't him. It isn't _just _him. Wherever I go, however I try to reach out…" Her voice cracked and she had to pause. "Utena, you're the only one who ever seems to be happy that I'm around."

Utena stared at her, astonished. Wakaba glanced away, still trying to uphold her plastered smile. It only slipped when Utena reached out and grasped her hand.

"Wakaba. You're a wonderful person, and I'm not just saying this because you saved my life. Anyone would be glad to be your friend! It's just that…" She trailed off, unsure of how to explain her thoughts.

"I come off too strong?" Wakaba's tone wasn't accusatory, which somehow made it worse. "I'm foolish? I'm an annoyance? I'm—"

"No!" Utena squeezed her hand. "No. You aren't a bad person, you aren't the problem. It's—it's the world," she finally said, and it was as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "There's just so much to worry about that it's hard to really get to know anyone."

"I don't know." Wakaba sighed and shook her head. "I think I'm going to be leaving the Shrine for a bit. I'll stay safe, I promise," she said quickly, seeing the concern on Utena's face. "I just want to be alone for a while."

With a wan smile, Utena drew her into a hug. "That's fine. I just hope we'll find each other again soon."

Wakaba's shoulders shook as she almost crushed Utena in her armored embrace. As she stepped back, she wiped the last of her tears from her eyes. "I'll be back soon." Her voice echoed as she replaced her helmet.

"You know, there's another Catarina knight in the Parish," Utena replied cheerfully. "Maybe you can find out what he's up to."

The round helm nodded. "Maybe."

Utena waved and watched until she disappeared into the aqueduct.

Avoiding the still-fuming crestfallen warrior, Utena sat with Anthy near the pool of water. The two sat in silent contemplation. Anthy's long hair fell forward over her face, obscuring her eyes.

"So, Himemiya," Utena said quietly. "How…how are you doing?"

The glasses turned to her, and Anthy offered a small smile. "I am doing quite well, Miss Utena. And you?"

"I'm good!" She stretched her arms out ahead of her and sighed. "Confused about a lot of things, but good. I was just wondering, though." She paused abruptly, unsure of how to continue. Anthy simply stared benevolently until she found the words that she wanted.

"I guess…you've been around for a long time, huh? Doing this dueling thing." She ran a hand through her hair and stared into the pool of water. "It doesn't sound like much fun. I just want to know, if…I get that it's some big tradition, even if I don't understand it at all, but if I'm going to participate I want to be doing what's best for you."

Anthy continued staring, but her expression no longer felt friendly.

"I know you probably don't want me pestering you about if you're happy all the time," Utena said quickly. "But is there anything at all that I can do for you?"

The silence stretched. Utena began to feel fidgety as Anthy gazed at her coolly. A mixture of both relief at _something_ happening and dread of her response passed through Utena as Anthy turned and looked away.

"You, Wakaba, and I…when we returned to the garden and sat in the grass together, not speaking, not fighting, I…" Her green eyes were like a void, unknowable, as they peered sidelong into Utena's own. "I would like to do that again, some day."

With tightness in her throat, Utena reached out and placed her hand on Anthy's shoulder. "We will. I promise! We'd have to find Wakaba first, but we will!"

"Am I interrupting something?"

Utena jumped and looked to the side entrance of the chamber. Touga stood there, leaning against the mossy stone wall.

"No," Utena replied quickly. "What do you want, Touga?"

"You may want to come with me." He nodded his head towards Anthy. "You, as well. The garden…someone set it aflame."

"What?" Utena leapt to her feet. Anthy rose more slowly, but her face expressed surprise at the news.

"There isn't much left," he explained with sadness in his voice. "But I figured that the Bride should know. If you want, we can go back and salvage what we can."

Utena's face fell, and she turned to Anthy with concern. "Do you want to go there now?"

She nodded, obviously distressed. Utena frowned and grabbed her hand as she followed Touga out of the Shrine.

The three trudged through the woods in silence. Utena felt more worry over Anthy's expression than the potential state of the rose garden. Her look of sadness had developed into an utter emptiness, and she never raised her eyes from the ground as she followed Utena into the forest.

"We aren't too far, now," Touga called back.

Utena squinted. Down the slope, in the distance, she could see the glint of the greenhouse in the sun. There was no smoke, or leftover ash, or any sign of a fire. The vibrant rosebushes that surrounded the building seemed pristine. With growing suspicion, she slowed her pace and watched Touga as he walked ahead.

The ringing of a bell could be heard, resounding from somewhere far below the cliffside.

"The second Bell of Awakening," Touga said quietly.

As if in response, Saionji stepped forward from behind a tree. Utena tensed and noticed with worry that he had two swords at his side. Touga glanced at him, and he nodded as he drew one sword.

"Touga," Utena said as she stepped back and guarded Anthy with her arm. "What do you mean by this?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm challenging you to a duel, Tenjou." As he spoke, he took the sword from Saionji and held it at the ready. Saionji unsheathed his other blade as he stood at Touga's side.

As the bell finished tolling, Touga took a bow with a flourish of his sword. "Shall we begin?"

(Next time on For Friendship, Perhaps : The victor is found, a fortress lies in wait. The Shadow Girls lend their aid. Lautrec shows Fina his devotion, and the Darkmoon Knightess seeks out the sinners.)

(This chapter's title is from Fuuin Jubaku. Additional listening can be found with Chaos Witch Quelaag.)

(As always, thanks for your kudoses and comments! This feels like a shorter chapter this time, but only because the last two were SUPER long haha.)


	6. the momentary flash of light called now

As Anthy lay back, Utena could feel her heart pounding with growing panic. The sword appeared, and she hesitated before pulling it from the Bride's chest.

Touga was upon her before the Bride was even out of her arms. Utena gasped and shoved Anthy away from her as she quickly blocked his attack.

He simply laughed at her surprise. "I'm not Miki, Tenjou. Do you really think these duels will always be so chivalrous?" With a twist of his blade, Utena's sword was nearly knocked from her grasp. She had just enough time to recover and block an overhead strike from Saionji, who had joined the fray.

"This is a world full of cheats and liars, Tenjou. Will you stay pure? Or will you stoop to any depth to get what you want?" Touga stepped back and watched as Saionji took the offensive. He snarled and slashed repeatedly at Utena's block.

Utena's retort came between the clangs of steel on steel. "I don't _want_ anything—" Her breath caught in her throat as the blade danced dangerously close to her rose, and she jumped back, guarding the blossom with her hand. "I just want to do what's _right!_"

"Is that so?" Touga held up his sword and prepared to leap forward. "Do you think that you're doing the right thing by staying with the Bride? Helping the helpless, perhaps?"

Saionji caught her elbow with a sudden thrust; Utena felt the blade break skin. With a frustrated growl, she dove to the side and avoided another stab that would have hit her in the gut. She narrowly avoided a downward strike from Touga as she regained her footing.

Having two opponents kept her constantly dodging. She tried to use the surrounding trees to her advantage, diving behind them or using them as a fulcrum as she leaned away from Saionji's frequent forward lunges.

Even with the protection of the rose, she could feel exhaustion creeping up on her. She had been cut into countless times and hit bluntly even more. She felt that she might go deaf from the sound of steel ringing as the ceremonial blade repetitively blocked the oncoming attacks.

She caught a glimpse of Anthy standing far from the range of the battle. Her eyes were unfocused and glassy, and her face looked drained and wan.

Her frustration growing, Utena lashed out, kicking Saionji in the chest and ducking under Touga's next swing. As Saionji stumbled backwards, she used her momentum to turn and drive her head into Touga's chest. He was winded, but able to recover and strike downwards at her shoulder.

Her breath caught in her throat as the blade bit deeply. The force of the blow caused her to fall to the ground. Scrambling to get to her feet, she twisted away from the sword, pulling free from the metal. The impact came again, this time on the other shoulder. She struggled to keep from collapsing as Touga hacked away at her relentlessly.

Touga wound up for another swing, and she saw her perfect opening. She lifted her sword—which passed through her grip, immaterial. Touga's sword landed upon her outstretched palm. She grit her teeth as she pushed against the blade with her bare hand.

Saionji slashed at her from the side. She contorted herself, feeling her muscles strain as his sword whiffed past her chest. Pain in her hand was beginning to blossom from the accustomed numbness. She struggled to draw her normal sword that was in the hilt at her side. Saionji kicked her in the back, and she fell forward, curling up and guarding the rose with her body.

A sword pierced through her chest and drove the rose into the dirt.

Vision spinning, blurring, teetering close to a crushing darkness, and then—the familiar crinkling of a fire and light softly filtered by opaque glass. The scent of roses was overpowering to the point that she wanted to retch. Her hand grasped at her coat, where the absence of a rose blossom only left her feeling heavier.

Her vision blurred again, this time with hot tears of frustration. She pressed her palms against her eyes and drew in a ragged breath. When she lowered her hands, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

One shadow was cast against the glass exterior of the greenhouse. She was wearing spiky shoulder pads and brandished a sword with bravado. "'Tis I! The Knight of Thorns! I've come to explore these ruins and gain myself power over fire!"

Another shadow appeared a couple panels of glass over. She had six outlines of limbs tied with string to her arms.

The first shadow pointed. "I know you! You're the one who locked up the secrets of Izalith and kept them away from the rest of the world!"

"Oh, brave hero!" The second shadow waved her hands, swinging about the spidery marionette legs. "Do you truly want to know the secrets of the fire? If so, you must first defeat me, to prove that you are strong enough!"

The other shadow raised her sword to the sky. "So be it! Take this, you terrible beast!"

The blade bopped the spidery shadow on the head. With a loud cry, she crumpled to the ground and crawled out of sight.

"Alright!" The other shadow looked back and forth, expectantly. "Where's the loot?"

The first shadow stage-whispered in a frail voice. "Sister? Oh, my sister? Where have you gone?" She crawled forward, dragging the silhouette of a massive spider abdomen as she went.

The other shadow jumped back and held their sword at the ready. "Ack! Another one?"

"Dear sister?" The shadow strained to reach her arm forward. "Are you there? I feel so ill—without you, I may die!"

"Whaaa…" The other shadow lowered her sword, and she crouched down to look closer at the spidery shadow, who reached out and patted her hands on the other's face.

"Sister? Is that you, or someone new?" She kept patting the other's face with growing confusion. "Are _you_ my sister now?"

Utena stood and began walking for the door of the greenhouse. Both shadows paused and turned their heads to look at her.

The spidery shadow lifted a hand. "Ah, uh, we aren't finished!"

"Don't you want to know how the story ends?" The other shadow waved her sword in the air.

Utena grit her teeth and ignored them as she exited the greenhouse. The protests of the shadow figures abruptly ceased when she noticed Touga waiting at the top of the hill.

He held Anthy's ceremonial sword in one hand and a white rose in the other. A fresh red rose was already upon his coat lapel. As Utena approached him, he tossed her the white bloom. It landed on the ground at her feet.

"Go ahead," he said with a smirk. "Knock the rose from my chest. Regain your title as Champion Duelist. Your Bride will await you with the villainous Saionji, and when you rescue her—"

The breath was knocked out of him as Utena punched him in the chest. The rose was crushed under her fist.

Stepping back, she scowled and cracked her sore knuckles. "Just tell me where they are."

Touga half-coughed, half-laughed as the sword faded away. "Sen's Fortress, the gated-off building near the old chapel. They'll be on their way to Anor Londo. You may catch them before they make it there, if you're quick."

Utena turned on her heel and began walking away.

"I hope that you aren't too upset with me, Tenjou. This is really all for your benefit."

"And for Himemiya's too, I'm sure," she retorted.

"Himemiya can't be helped," he flatly replied. "You have to start understanding that."

She refused to respond and continued walking.

"If you don't hold on tightly to the things you love, someone will take them away from you," he called out.

Hunching her shoulders, she kept her eyes forward and trudged her way to the Shrine.

Shiori was absent from her perch near the crow. The crew of clerics were gone. Laurentius and the others were nowhere to be found. The watery pool had disappeared, leaving a dark abyss that Utena had to tiptoe around. From within the depths, she heard strange and echoing noises.

The fire in the Shrine was unlit. Feeling unsettled, Utena approached the circle cautiously.

The only other person around was the crestfallen warrior, who sat in a hunch at the edge of the bonfire circle. "I'm not going to apologize for what I said," he snapped as she looked at him questioningly.

She frowned and furrowed her eyebrows. "What-? I'm not—Wakaba's fine now. Have you seen Himemiya come through here?"

He shrugged. "Yes, with some man. I figured he was another one of your friends."

Utena had to restrain herself from yelling. "You didn't think it was odd that she wasn't with me?"

"She seems odd overall! I wasn't about to get involved in whatever that man was doing. He was in an awful rush, dragging her along like that—"

Utena put a hand to her forehead. "What happened to the bonfire?"

"See for yourself." He let out a sigh and gestured towards the stairs.

Worry growing in her gut, she ventured downwards. Lautrec was missing, as was the mute firekeeper. A small black rock with a carving of an eye rest in the grass in front of her cage, and she picked it up with uneasy curiosity.

She returned to the crestfallen warrior and held up the stone. "What is this? What happened to the firekeeper?"

"Knight Lautrec stole her away," he replied. "Probably to take her humanity. I suppose the temptation just became too much for him. I have no idea what that rock is for, though. I've only ever seen red ones."

"Wait, _take _her humanity? How?"

The warrior sighed. "He'll kill her. How else?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Her hands curled into fists. "You just _sat _there and let these things happen?"

He drew back, affronted. "Whatever happened with you duelists is none of my business, and Knight Lautrec is no easy foe, you know! We can't _all _be heroes," he spat, venomous anger growing in his tone.

"That firekeeper could be dead! And so could—so could Himemiya!" She could feel tears welling up again, and her throat tightened as she tried to keep hold of herself.

"How is that my concern?" The warrior hunched forward, drawing his knees to his chest.

"You son of a bitch!" She stepped forward and the warrior's hand jumped to the hilt of his sword. Her eyes narrowed and she backed away.

"It wouldn't even be worth the effort, would it?" She scoffed as she tried to subdue the lump in her throat. "You're just _worthless_." Not waiting for a response, she turned and began running to the chapel elevators.

She pushed her way past the metal gate as the elevator slowed to a stop. A few dead hollows littered the ground. Saionji was lying in a heap at the altar of the chapel. Utena narrowed her eyes and prodded his side with her foot.

He groaned in response, confirming at least that he was still alive. She kicked him harder, and he rolled onto his back.

"Where's Himemiya?" She tried to keep panic from entering her voice.

Saionji squinted at her as he struggled to sit up. While his Duelist regalia remained impressive, Utena thought he looked about as lost and hopeless as she felt.

She repeated herself more loudly. "Where's Himemiya?"

"Anthy, you mean?" He blinked slowly and looked around. "The Rose Bride…"

She resisted the urge to smack him upside the head. "Yes! Her! Where is she? Touga said that she would be with you."

His eyes narrowed. "Did he?"

She stopped resisting.

"Ow!" Saionji rubbed at where she had hit him and shot her a childishly hurt look. "I don't know where the hell she went! She kept kicking up a fuss about staying with Touga since he's _technically_ the champion, even though he told me that I—"

Utena interrupted tersely. "Well, _I'm_ the champion again, so she should be with _me_. Where is she?"

"I told you, I don't know!"

"Then what happened to you?" Disbelief grew on her expression. "Did…did she knock you out?"

"She could never," Saionji spat. "There was this knight."

Utena tensed and drew back. Saionji looked off in the distance as he tried to remember. "This weird golden knight…and two others. One wore a red mask. There may have been a fourth, I couldn't really tell. They jumped me when we got off the elevator. They must have taken her…" He pressed his hand against his forehead. "They were part of Touga's plan, I'm sure. Another detail he conveniently forgot to tell me. Wait—hey!" He watched with wide eyes as Utena sprinted for the chapel exit.

"Oh, Touga." Saionji slumped back to the floor in defeat and looked at her rapidly receding figure. "I do hope that you know what you're doing."

The familiar clanking of Andre's smithing came and went. As Utena ran towards the fortress on the other side of the old church, she saw that the metal gate had been lifted and that a Catarina knight stood at the building's threshold in contemplation. At the sound of her approaching footsteps, the round helm turned, and the knight threw up her hands in recognition.

"Oh, Utena! Hello!" Wakaba sounded genuinely happy. Utena stopped in front of her and tried to catch her breath.

"Wakaba, have you seen a group of people come through here? Was Himemiya with them?"

"Himemiya?" The helm tilted. "No, I haven't seen her. I did find the other man from Catarina you were talking about, though! He's quite friendly! We have a little contest going on as to who can get through the fortress the fastest. I can get through the traps more quickly, but he's much better at fighting those snake people—"

Utena put a hand on Wakaba's shoulder. "I need to get to Anor Londo as quickly as I can. Do you know how to get there?"

"Oh, yeah! It's up there," she replied, pointing to the mountain range to the side of the fortress. At the top was a high stone wall. "You can earn entrance to the city by getting through Sen's Fortress."

Utena frowned. "How do I get through the fortress?"

"By fighting your way through, basically." She gestured towards the wide entranceway. "It's full of traps, and snake men, and titanite demons, and big swinging axes. It's some dangerous stuff! This is my fifth try! Siegmeyer's way ahead of me. He might die and show up here, though, if you want to wait and meet him."

"Oh." She put her hand to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't—I really don't have time for all that."

"Well, if you put your mind to it I'm sure that you can—Utena?" Concern grew in Wakaba's tone as Utena's shoulders shook. "Utena, what's wrong?"

"I think Himemiya is with Lautrec," she explained. "And so is the firekeeper from the Shrine. I think he's going to hurt them, and I don't have a rose, and if you've already died five times in there then there's no way I can get through."

"But…" Wakaba trailed off. "How could…"

Utena turned away and wiped her eyes. Too keep from crying, she focused on the wall at the top of the mountain. It seemed unreachably high, but the slope of the mountain itself was smattered with trees and foliage. Parts of it were sheer cliffs, but much of the incline was steady and outcroppings of weathered rocks offered good handholds.

Determination grew within her, and she turned to Wakaba with a smile.

"I think I know how to get there."

The helm tilted up as Wakaba looked towards the wall. "You're going to—"

"Yes." Utena nodded. "All things considered, it's probably safer."

"But to get into Anor Londo—they have to let you in, that's what the Fortress is for, it proves that you can do it—"

"I don't care about all that." Utena drew Wakaba into a hug. "I know that you can do it, though. We'll meet again on the other side of that wall. I'm sure of it."

"Oh, Utena!" Wakaba's voice cracked as she returned the embrace.

Utena patted her on the back and stepped away. "It'll be another contest," she said with a laugh. "We'll see who can get up there first, right?"

"Yeah." Wakaba laughed, but she didn't sound fully convinced. "Please, Utena…stay safe, will you? I wish I could help you more…but I don't think I could climb that, even without my armor. I could try to escort you through the fortress—"

Utena shook her head. "No need for that. Trying to carry me through there would just get both of us hurt, I think."

"I know, but…"

"Wakaba, you've already done so much to help me. You don't have to worry."

She nodded her helm, and Utena hugged her once more before running back to the chapel.

Andre was hammering away at red-hot metal as she approached his smithy.

"Welcome back," he said, putting his hammer down at his side. "I'm glad to see that you're doing well."

"Same to you," she replied. "I have a really big favor to ask."

He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "A favor? I hope you don't mean a free blade. Souls don't grow on trees, you know. Most of the time, that is."

She shook her head and patted the hilt of the sword at her side. "No, no swords this time. Do you know much about mountain climbing?"

He squinted at her. "Mountain climbing?"

"Well, more like wall climbing."

"What are you going around climbing walls for?"

"I need to get to that city past the fortress."

Andre frowned. "You're going to _climb_ to Anor Londo?"

Utena nodded, and he let out a barking laugh.

"Well, then! There's been many fools through these parts in my time, but none as foolish as that. And yet…" He trailed off as he smiled. "There is only one way to find out if it will work, isn't there?"

She nodded again, and he chuckled as he searched through a drawer at his side.

"I'll tell you what. If you make it to the city alive, just bring me back some trinket of proof that you were there. That'll be payment enough." He pulled out scraps of metal and placed them on the anvil, then searched behind the rack of weapons and retrieved a long coil of rope. "I don't know much about climbing myself, but this should help."

He turned and lifted a crossbow from the rack. "Do you know how to use this?"

Utena pursed her lips. "I'm sure I could figure it out."

He took a few large crossbow bolts and handed them to her. "You could tie rope to the bolts and use them as anchor points. Or, with enough strength, as handholds." He gestured to the spike-like pieces of scrap metal on the anvil with one hand as he retrieved a cloth sack with another. "Feel free to take those, as well. I'm sure you could find some use for them."

She smiled as she accepted the sack and scraps. "Thank you, Andre. I'll bring you back something really spectacular, just you wait."

"You bringing yourself back alive will be rather spectacular," he replied. "Do be careful out there."

She nodded as she started going up the stairwell. "I'll try my best."

As she returned to the entrance of the fortress, she looked around for a good way to get down to ground-level. The stone entranceway of the fortress had metal grating that would work well as a tie-off point for the rope. As she began fastening the knot, she heard hissing from the dim interior of the fortress.

Peering inside, she could see two tall humanoid figures pacing at the far end of the room. Their bodies appeared normal, but their necks elongated into large fanged snake heads. One simply seemed agitated as it strode back and forth, but the other was staring at her with suspicion. She frowned and tried to ignore them.

Loud clanking approached from behind, and she turned to see the familiar Catarina set approaching. She could recognize by their slower gait that it was not Wakaba, but instead the knight that had been resting at the entrance before.

She waved and held up the rope. "Siegmeyer, right? Could you give me a hand?"

"Oh-hoh! You again?" The knight caught up to her and paused, resting his hands on his knees. "Utena, isn't it? I met your friend, Wakaba. She's well within the fortress by now, if you're looking for her." He paused, helm tilting as he watched her finish tying the knot to the grate. "Are you also trying to conquer the fortress? What manner of strategy is this?"

"I need to get over there," she explained, pointing towards the mountains.

His helmet turned to follow where she was pointing. "Pardon…?"

"I'm going to climb down now," she said as she began walking to the edge of the entranceway. "When I hit the bottom, can you untie the rope and throw it down to me?"

"Ah, well, of course." He nodded and stood at the ready. "Shout to me when you're ready, I suppose."

"Thanks a bunch." Utena quickly steeled herself, situated the rope around her waist, and began descending the side of the fortress.

It took her some time to get used to using the rope without becoming tangled or slipping from the stone wall, but she reached the forest floor without injury. She called out to Siegmeyer, and the rope quickly came tumbling down to her. She could see his armored figure wave down to her, and she returned the gesture before turning and briskly walking towards the mountain.

She was grateful that no snake people or worse were patrolling the area. Walking through the forest would have been calming if she wasn't overcome by a sense of urgency. As she approached the mountain, the slope of the ground gradually increased until it was difficult to simply walk. There were plenty of roots and branches to grapple with, and she continued ascending without much issue.

Shadowy hands beckoned in the pillars of darkness cast by the trees. "Oh, brave hero! Can we finish our story now?"

Utena rest her back against a rock and dug in the ground with her heels. The next part of the slope was interrupted by a sheer stony incline, and she began looking through her bag for metal she could use as handholds. "You guys love a captive audience, huh?"

Another shadow spoke. "It does make things more convenient."

The first shadow puppeted the outline of a spider on a string. "Where were we? The Daughters of Chaos, right?"

"Ah yes." The second shadow held up a finger. "The Witch of Izalith, originator of fire magic! When the first flame began to wane, she decided to find her very own fire. So she tried to recreate it using her magical powers—"

The first shadow waved her arms. "Fwoosh! Shazam! Behold, the Chaos Flame! Twin to the First Flame! We can use it if the old fire runs out!"

"This doesn't sound familiar to me at all," Utena said flatly.

"…Is this where we left off last time?" The second shadow scratched her head.

"Who cares?" The first shadow threw her hands up in the air. "Did you not just see me make the coolest pyromancy ever?"

"You're just playing a part, you know," the other shadow retorted. "Plus you were helped by your followers, the Daughters of Chaos—"

"But wait!" The first shadow jumped forward, pressing her finger to the other's mouth in order to silence her. "The Chaos Flame was more than it seemed! It caused demons to spring forth and ravage the lands! It caused fire magic to lash out in strange and unpredictable ways! It even turned upon its creators and cursed them to suffer in Lost Izalith forevermore!" She leaned back and held a hand to her forehead. "The Witch and two of her closest daughters—turned into a terrible Bed of Chaos! Other daughters left to go mad and wander the ruins! One daughter, hidden under cover of darkness, but too frightened to take action! Two daughters transformed into great and terrible spiders!"

"They fled as far from the flame as they could," the second shadow added. "And yet, they were forced to stop, as one daughter happened upon victims of a terrible blight. Her heart moved, she tried to draw the blight upon herself, hoping that her power as a Daughter of Chaos would be enough to free the people of their terrible plight. But, alas! The poor fair lady was not strong enough! She fell terribly ill, and the plague raged on."

The first shadow waved spidery arms. "Her sister, determined to keep safe one of the few things left that she held dear, vowed to care for her. But her vows only served to turn her more monstrous. To support her sister's ailing health, she would have to kill wandering travelers and steal their humanity. With such a strong diet, perhaps her sister would be resilient enough to overcome her terrible illness! Perhaps she would even be strong enough to regain the former glory of the Daughters of Chaos!"

"But, perhaps it was not meant to be. With just one hero brave enough to defeat her sister, the fair lady would no longer be fed." The second shadow tilted her head. "Unless…"

The first shadow nodded. "Unless…"

"Unless the hero went on in the sister's stead, killing those who dared trespass the domain of the Daughters of Chaos and feeding the fair lady the humanity that they pillaged." She paused dramatically. "_Unless…_"

The first shadow leaned forward. "Unless-!"

"The hero felt no pity, or perhaps too much, and used their might to end the fair lady's suffering." The second shadow looked at the first, who was now wearing the spiky shoulder pads that she had donned earlier. "What will you do, brave hero?"

The first shadow held up her sword and looked at it in confusion. "Uh…"

Utena grunted as she grabbed onto the rocky handhold above. Pulling herself upwards, she slammed the piece of scrap metal into a crevice and pulled on it. Confident that it would hold most of her weight, she heaved her weight onto the stone and scraped the surface with her feet until she found purchase.

The rest of the cliff was similarly manageable, although she did fumble one spike and watch it tumble down into the trees. The slope ahead was steep, but held scattered trees and low shrubs that were easy to grab on to.

When the incline became too much, she leaned back against a trunk and attempted to load the crossbow. It took a lot of effort to draw back, but she soon had a bolt with rope attached at the ready.

She fired it at a tree far above and missed, the bolt soaring through the air and landing uselessly on the ground. With a frown, she fished the bolt back and tried again.

It missed the trunk but careened over a branch, where it wrapped around and became entangled. She gave the rope an experimental tug. The branch wobbled, but the line felt firm. When she reached the end of the rope, she pulled as hard as she could and cut it so that she retrieved as much rope as possible. The bolt and some rope were left behind in the tree, but she felt that she would have enough to continue on.

Utena paused to catch her breath after repeating the process for a few more trees. She tried to land her shots in the trunks instead of the branches, as it allowed her to conserve more rope.

She glanced down the side of the mountain and was astounded at how far she had progressed. She was on the same altitude as the rooftop of the fortress, where giants were laboring over massive boulders and the various mechanisms controlling the traps indoors.

Part of the rooftop split into a path that led to a narrow platform that was flush against the mountain. Rubble was piled against what was once an entranceway to the city. Above that, the stone wall soared into dizzying heights.

Her sense of pride quickly faded. Scaling the wall looked nearly impossible. She set her sights lower and spotted a long, almost walkable slope that ran up the side of the cliff below. It would take a good deal of climbing sheer stone to reach, but it would take her just below where the first segment of the wall began. If she could reach that first landing, she could walk to the higher corner and try to scale the rest of the wall above.

Feeling more confident, she pressed onwards and began climbing the cliff.

With only a few minor scrapes and bruises, Utena was able to reach the first landing of the high wall. She was far above Sen's Fortress by this point, and she could hear the loud reverberation of explosions as a giant lobbed bombs at scurrying figures. She thought that she saw Catarina armor, but distance made it hard to tell.

The second segment of the wall looked far more challenging. The closely-hewn stone offered few footholds, and it was much taller than the first.

Utena strained to load the crossbow and aimed for the top of the wall. Simply wanting to test if the bolt would stick, she refrained from attaching the rope.

The tip of the bolt clattered uselessly against the stone. She grit her teeth and attempted the shot again with the same result.

As she came down to her last few bolts, she re-aimed for a lower spot and fastened the rope. The bolt wedged itself into the stone, but she had miscalculated how much rope was remaining. The end of the coil dangled high above her.

She frowned but figured that at least that stretch of the wall would be easier. She searched through her satchel for metal to start using as handholds. She practiced on the bricks in front of her, wedging the pieces into small gaps and tugging them to see how her weight would hold.

She struggled to press back the knowledge that falling from the wall above would kill her. She felt that she had to keep moving or her exhaustion would catch up with her. Her shoulders and arms were already aching from her previous climb.

The crossbow and the satchel were left behind, and she shoved the scrap metal into her pockets. Utena took a deep breath and began to ascend. She was able to find some places where she could dig her fingers and toes into the ancient mortar, but she had to keep her back perfectly straight in order to keep her balance.

The next stretch of brick had no easily accessible handholds. Utena pressed her forehead against the stone and fished a spike from her pocket. She wondered idly if the boulder-throwing giants were safer in comparison, and she quickly had to restrain herself from looking down.

She drove the spike into the mortar, steeled herself, and held on as she swung her legs to the side. Her shoes skid terrifyingly against the stone, but gripped just enough to allow her to clamber to the next handhold above the spike. As she paused to reinforce her hold, she felt grateful that there wasn't much wind in spite of her altitude.

The bottom of the rope was soon within reach, and she wrapped it around her hands gratefully. Her shoulders and calves were burning from exertion, and any weight lifted from them was welcomed. As she continued upwards, she wrapped the rope around her waist, hoping that if she slipped the bolt would be strong enough to hold her full weight.

As she neared the bolt, she could see the top of the wall, tantalizingly close yet still a very long climb away. The stones here looked rougher and more heavily weathered until they reached a parapet that was in better repair.

While she was looking upwards, her foot slipped. The rope burned against her hands as she fell, and her shoes scraped wildly against the stone. She reached out and caught onto the bricks with one hand while she kept a white-knuckle grip on the rope with another.

Her stomach lurched even as she came to a stop. Slowly, she pushed upwards with her toes and methodically ascended to the top of the rope. The stone had abraded her palm enough that a smattering of blood was left behind with each grip. The scrapes quickly congealed under the dirt and dust on the wall and ached dully.

She returned to the crossbow bolt and carefully placed a piece of scrap metal above it. Using the bolt as a handhold, she hauled herself upwards and grabbed onto the next piece of metal. The bolt was strong enough to support her feet as she held onto the spike and planned the next part of her climb.

The next section was far more accessible, and she only had to use a couple of metal spikes in order to advance. The parapet loomed above her, the smoother stones and tougher mortar causing her to struggle for every centimeter of progress.

With one more strained reach, she was able to latch on to the top of the barrier. She clambered onto the parapet and lay down on the warm stones. Laughing quietly, she rubbed sweat and dried blood from her aching hands onto her jacket. Every limb was sore, but she felt elated at having conquered the wall.

Her sense of purpose returned, and she strained to get back onto her feet. Her legs wobbled under her weight as she ventured forward.

Anor Londo was golden in the sunlight. Utena's eyes widened as she took in the grand architecture, her gaze following the swooping arches and towering cathedrals. Massive stairwells spiraled into streets far below, where bridges crisscrossed and met with wide and open roads.

Her eyebrows furrowed with confusion as she looked closer. The streets were completely devoid of people or hollows. She searched for any signs of life and saw a few large statues positioned at the entrance of the largest cathedral. A gargoyle was placed in the center of a pathway, and behind it were scattered gigantic armored figures and smaller bat-winged gargoyles holding spears.

One of the bat-winged creatures yawned, and Utena realized that they were alive.

Feeling perplexed, she looked at the landing directly below where she was standing on the wall. Seeing that it was empty, she dropped the few feet from the parapet to the roof of the building below her, then shimmied down the space between the building and a column until she was safely on the stone floor.

To the left and right were rooms holding more armored giants. In front was an elevator that descended to a platform that was prowled by a gargoyle. Behind her was a stairwell leading into something unknown. If she listened closely, she could hear a familiar crackling.

She descended cautiously, staying close to the side and stepping as softly as possible.

The bonfire came into view. An armored figure leaned against the far wall. Her brass armor glittered in the firelight, and her sharply-crested helm turned to look at Utena as she stood warily at the room's threshold.

"Fear not." The figure uncrossed her arms and held her hands out palms-up. "This bonfire is safe for your use, traveler."

Utena let out a sigh of relief and nearly collapsed at the side of the flames.

The brass helm was still aimed at her, watching carefully as Utena leaned close to the fire and began to feel strength seeping back into her muscles.

"Welcome to the lost city of Anor Londo, Chosen Undead. If you seek Lord Gwyn's old keep—"

"Oh, I'm not the Chosen Undead," Utena quickly replied. "Sorry. I won't be staying long, I promise."

"You're…_not_ the Chosen Undead?" The armored figure's voice was tinged with disbelief. "Those who pass through Sen's Fortress are generally assured of that title."

"I didn't do all that. I'm not even undead, I think." Utena frowned and ran a hand through her hair.

The figure was silent.

Utena stood and brushed herself off. She wasn't fully recovered, but she didn't want to waste any more time resting. She shot the armored figure a plaintive look.

"I'm not taking part in the whole undead prophecy thing. I'm just here to rescue my friend. And a firekeeper. I'm really afraid that I might not be able to fight the people that have taken them on my own. I may have reached the city by myself, but I'm only worth one sword against many. Would you be willing to help me? I'll repay you as best as I can."

"A firekeeper?" She sounded shocked. "Someone brought another firekeeper here?"

Utena nodded. "I think that they plan on…on killing her, for her power."

"To kill a firekeeper is a great sin." The armored figure stepped forward and offered her hand to Utena. "As a Blade of the Darkmoon and a firekeeper, I will offer you my sword and fight at your side."

Utena shook her hand with wide eyes. "You're a firekeeper?"

"A firekeeper, a gatekeeper, a guide, a Darkmoon Blade, a Knightess." The helm tilted downwards in a slight bow. "I have my roles to keep. You seem surprised."

Utena's face flushed with embarrassment. "Well, I mean…the only firekeeper I met has been, well…"

"I understand." The Darkmoon Knightess let out a sigh and let her hand drop to her side. "The role of a firekeeper can be very specific; some may even say stifling." Her helm tilted towards the stairwell. "Shall we be going? Do you have any idea of where your friends could be?"

Her face fell. "No, not really. I do have this," she said as she retrieved the black eye orb from her pocket.

The Knightess drew back. "Proof of the sin. Those are created upon the wrongful death of a firekeeper."

"She's already dead?" Utena's hand tightened around the stone. "Then—my friend—"

"There may yet be time," the Knightess said firmly.

The Knightess led the way down the elevator and signaled the gargoyle waiting at the bottom to stand down. She directed Utena to the side of the stone walkway and let her wait there as she jumped down to a narrow buttress. She strode up the length until she reached the adjacent building, where beautiful stained glass windows were marred by a spot of shattered glass.

Utena could hear the Knightess call something into the building. Someone inside must have responded, as she turned and climbed back onto the buttress.

As the Knightess returned to the walkway, Utena heard a loud grinding coming from below. A spiral staircase topped by a bridge slowly spiraled into view and locked in place, connecting the walkway to the cathedral ahead.

A white-robed figure stood at the top of the bridge, their hands resting upon a lever. Once the stairwell stopped moving, they sprinted over to Utena and gave a small hand signal to the Knightess.

The Knightess waved them off. The painting guardian ran up the buttress and disappeared behind the stained glass. Utena followed closely as the Knightess ran across the bridge and bypassed another gargoyle.

A wide stairway stretched ahead of them, leading to two armored giants. They guarded a massive closed doorway behind them, and their halberds were lifted to the ready as the Knightess approached.

"Darkmoon business," she called out as she walked past them and pounded on a metal gate on their left. Seemingly placated, the giants resumed their posts and ignored Utena, who was looking up at them with awe.

A batwing demon responded to her gauntlets clashing against the metal with a yawn.

"Open it up, you lazy thing." She shook the gate for emphasis. "You can lock it up and get back to napping in a moment. Don't look so hurt," she teased as the creature bared its teeth. "There's no harm in you resting. You'll need all your strength for when the Chosen Undead gets here, hm?"

The batwing demon opened the door and narrowed its eyes at Utena. The Knightess ushered her to another locked door, where she knocked three times and shouted.

"Darkmoon business. Let me in, if you would."

Loud clattering sounded from within the building. The hinges creaked as the door swung inward and revealed a giant crouched over an anvil.

"Hello," the giant grumbled pleasantly. "After sinners?"

"Aye," the Knightess responded. "And of the worst sort. Do you mind if we come through?"

The giant waved a massive hand dismissively. "No, no. I help anytime."

The Knightess nodded her thanks and entered the room. Utena offered the giant a bow before she followed, but the mask-like covering the giant wore made it difficult to tell if she had even been noticed.

Behind the giant's smithy was a winding staircase that led to a windowed balcony. Below the balcony was an open chamber patrolled by two more armored giants and smaller silver knights.

Utena searched the room for any signs of Anthy having been there. She began walking down the stairs to her left that led to the ground floor of the chamber.

The black orb pulsed, and the grand hall was suddenly bereft of guards. Startled, she dropped the stone, and the guards reappeared. The Darkmoon Knightess grabbed onto Utena's jacket with one hand and lifted the orb with the other. Reality wavered for a few moments before settling. The room was now strangely dim and silent. Utena scanned the area and spotted two figures sitting upon the wide staircase that led to a wall of fog. She squinted at them, then gasped in recognition.

"Himemiya!" Utena cried out her name, and Anthy's glasses flashed as she looked up.

"Wait-!" The Darkmoon Knightess reached out as Utena began to run.

Anthy was sitting calmly and appeared perfectly composed, as if nothing had ever happened. She stood as Utena approached. For a moment, it appeared that her hands were stained with something dark; Utena barely recognized the aberration as she sprinted up the steps.

She did notice, however, the firekeeper from the Shrine huddled a few steps above Anthy. Her shoulders were shaking, and her face was streaked with fresh tears.

Worry creased Utena's face as she approached Anthy and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm quite alright, Miss Utena. As is Miss Anastacia," she replied, gesturing vaguely to the firekeeper behind her. Her voice was airy and detached.

Anastacia had begun to shiver at the mention of her name. Utena watched her with a mixture of concern and confusion.

A harsh voice called out from the balcony above. "You have no idea, do you? What that _thing_ is that you've been traveling with."

Utena turned and searched the shadowy room for golden armor. She spotted Lautrec standing behind the banister with his shotels drawn.

She drew her sword. "Lautrec!"

He bowed mockingly. "Miss Duelist."

Utena scowled and glanced back at the firekeeper, who had turned her face away. "Listen, Lautrec. What the hell is going on? Why did you take the firekeeper from the shrine?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" He scoffed. "Wait, no. You _can't._ Instead, you should be asking _her_ what the hell happened to my comrades." He pointed the blade of his shotel towards Anthy.

Utena's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, on rare occasions, I have harbored doubts about myself. About my faith, and about my devotion to Fina." The shotel lowered and tapped against the banister as he spoke. "I thought that perhaps _I_ was blind to reason when it came to my affections. But you-! You may as well have lost your eyes as well as your wits. Can't you _see it_?"

She squared her shoulders. "What are you even saying? Why won't you just answer my question?"

"By the gods, are you stupid?" He drew back from the balcony's edge. "You're like a fly in a web! You'll never learn, will you? You'll devote yourself and give and give until there's nothing left—"

"Knight Lautrec of Carim." The Darkmoon Knightess's voice rang clearly from above. "If ever there was a man more drenched in sin."

Lautrec swore and turned on his heel to face the firekeeper of Anor Londo. As she drew her sword, the steel began to glow with a deep purple energy.

"How many firekeepers by now, hm? Three? Four? More?"

Lautrec dashed to the side, but the Knightess was too quick for him.

"In the name of the Darkmoon, I punish you."

The Darkmoon Knightess' enchanted blade pierced Lautrec's chest, passing through the crease between the embracing metal arms.

Utena's vision lurched. She caught a glimpse of Lautrec sliding from the sword and collapsing to the balcony floor. The Knightess stood over him, triumphant. The room swam around her and became full of sunlight.

An armored giant faced them, wielding a halberd easily three times Utena's height. A second one further in the hall turned, alerted to their presence.

Utena stepped back, shielding Anthy and Anastacia with outstretched arms. Her blood felt like it had turned to ice. The sentinel continued to advance.

She crouched by Anastacia and waved her hands. "Come on!" Turning, she waited for the firekeeper to get onto her back. Utena stood, making sure that she had a good hold on her; the firekeeper barely seemed to weigh anything. She caught a glimpse of a silver knight archer on the side stairwell readying a massive arrow. The sentinel was almost within range to slash at them with the halberd. Gritting her teeth, she hauled Anastacia as she ran up the wide steps. Anthy followed closely behind as they approached the wall of fog.

Utena flinched as she heard the blade of the halberd crash into stone. Anthy stumbled, and Utena reached back to grab her hand. Anastacia gripped tightly to keep from slipping off of her back. The sentinel was almost upon them, and she heard the arrow loose from the knight's bow. She pulled Anthy forward and half fell, half ran into the murky haze ahead.

Beyond the fog was blessedly silent. Utena readjusted her grasp on Anastacia and looked at Anthy with worry. The Bride was staring wide-eyed straight ahead, and Utena turned her head to follow her gaze.

Gold armor covered a humanoid figure so large that it took her a few moments to recognize that the rotund body and massive limbs were in fact all parts of one person. A hammer rested on the floor at his side, and Utena fleetingly wondered if it was large enough to smash them all in one go.

The masked helm of the Executioner swiveled to face them. Utena caught a glimpse of movement above him and spotted another set of golden armor. Smaller than the Executioner yet far taller than her, the Dragonslayer placed a gauntleted hand upon the balcony railing as he peered down at them. His other hand held a tall spear.

Executioner Smough heaved the hammer over his shoulder. Utena pushed Anthy behind her and felt Anastacia press her face into her neck.

Red plumage swept through the air as Ornstein joined Smough on the ground level of the room. The lion-faced helm stared at her, unreadable. Utena fought the urge to bare her teeth in response.

Ornstein held his spear at an angle, the tip close to the floor. The helm inclined ever so slightly towards Smough, who offered no response aside from lifting his hammer and beginning to tread forward.

"No!" Utena cried out as she stepped back. She felt the impassable fog brush her fingertips as she blocked Anthy and Anastacia from view.

An inhuman chuckle emitted from Smough's helm as he continued walking at a leisurely pace.

Frustration saturated her voice as she shouted. "We aren't here to fight! She's a firekeeper! I'm not the Chosen Undead—we're just trying to leave!"

The hammer began to rise. Utena felt as if time were slowing. As the Executioner approached, she could see herself and the others from above, as if she were merely an observer.

She drew her sword and leaned forward. She felt as if reality itself was focusing upon her body much like it did when Anthy created her blade. Something tugged at her thoughts, and she felt her limbs tense as she prepared to leap forward.

"_Halt_." A voice cut through her dream. "Be still." The Executioner lowered his hammer.

The voice echoed, sounding as if it came from everywhere and nowhere. "Thou art not the Chosen Undead, yet pursue entrance to the chambers of the gods. What end do you seek here?"

"We just want some safety," Utena replied. "Just a _minute_ of peace and quiet."

There was a long pause, and the voice returned. Utena could sense an air of amusement.

"So be it. Thou may proceed and give respect to the Godmother. Perhaps, in her chambers, said peace may be found."

The fog at the far end of the room cleared, revealing two elevators. Smough let out another strange chuckle as he backed away and glanced over at Ornstein, who stood with his arms crossed. Utena watched them warily as she carried Anastacia over to the smaller of the two lifts. Anthy followed closely behind.

Her lips set in a firm line, she offered the two a shallow bow before entering the elevator. Her skin crawled as Smough laughed again and Ornstein simply stared.

The platform quickly ascended to an upper balcony, where a bonfire crinkled quietly. Beyond the fire were a set of elaborately carved doors. Utena squared her shoulders and led the way to the chamber's entrance.

(Next time, on For Friendship, Perhaps : Illusions of many sorts are discussed. A painting grants further patience. The further history of Anor Londo is revealed, if the shadow girls can get their act together.)

(This chapter's title is from Nanibito mo Kataru Koto Nashi. Additional listening can be found with good ol' Ornstein and Smough's theme.)


	7. the flame of ekpyrosis

Utena pushed open the massive wooden doors, straining her arms as she also tried to hold Anastacia's weight. They slowly swung open, and she stepped into the gold-lit chamber.

Gwynevere, the Princess of Sunlight, smiled radiantly upon them. She lounged upon a luxuriously cushioned divan and towered over the three young women. Utena had to crane her neck to look up at her beatific face.

White curtains of cloth and lace fluttered as she waved for them to come forward. Her red hair tumbled over her shoulder as she gazed down at them.

Utena felt that it was fitting to kneel. It doubled as an opportunity for Anastacia to clamber down from her back. The firekeeper nearly prostrated herself in front of the goddess, her forehead inches from the floor. Utena wasn't sure if it was out of reverence or exhaustion. Anthy slowly lowered herself to her knees at Utena's side.

"Thou hast journey'd far and overcome much to reach this place, yet thy fate lies not with that of the Undead. What brings thee to Anor Londo?" The goddess spoke kindly and leaned forward on her cushion with interest.

Utena felt a bit of heat rise to her cheeks, and she decided to keep her gaze trained on the ground as she replied. "I came here to rescue my friends. This is Anthy Himemiya," she said, gesturing towards her. "And this is Anastacia. She's a firekeeper. They were taken here by a knight that was going to kill them. I wasn't planning on staying here for long after finding them. We can leave and be out of the way of the Chosen Undead business as soon as possible."

"Worry not." Gwynevere smiled reassuringly. "Thou hast shown great strength in finding the city, and greater heart in ensuring the safety of thy companions. Rest within the cathedral and recover from such trials, with thy protection being assured. I wish to speak with thee of thy journey and of thy self."

"Of—of course," Utena stammered. "Thank you! That would be wonderful."

"Go forth, then, and find thy peace. The Knightess shall escort thee to a place of rest." As she spoke, Gwynevere raised her hand and waved languidly towards the doorway.

Utena clambered to her feet and bowed. "Thank you!"

"Thou art welcome, and welcome here." The goddess laughed softly. "Oh, and brave hero—thou hast not given me thy name!"

Her cheeks flushed red, and she bowed once more. "Tenjou—Utena Tenjou!"

Gwynevere covered her mouth with her hand as she smiled.

Utena turned at the sound of approaching clanking metal. The Darkmoon Knightess ran up to the threshold of the chamber, sounding slightly out of breath.

"There. Taken care of," she said as she put her hands on her knees. "You lot are alright? Ah." She paused, stood at attention, and bowed to an amused looking Gwynevere. "Your radiance, our Godmother Princess. What do you require of me?"

"Good Lady of the Darkling," the goddess replied. "Escort these fine guests to the living quarters, and inform the other knights to remain at ease in their presence."

The Knightess bowed deeply. "I will, your radiance."

Utena bowed one last time, then kneeled down to let Anastacia climb on. The firekeeper looked at her blearily before lifting herself up.

Anthy stood at Utena's side, her eyebrows furrowed. Utena shot her a questioning look, but she simply shook her head minutely and looked away.

They followed the Knightess out of the chamber. The wooden doors closed behind them of their own accord. Once they were shut, the Knightess paused at the bonfire and turned to face the group.

"I have a few concerns," she said quickly. "That Knight Lautrec may be apt to return and try at your firekeeper again. He's listed highly in the Book of the Guilty for a reason. I know that you all need rest, and you should not have to worry yourself with sudden invasions of your privacy. I would stay with you to stand guard, but I have duties to uphold at my fire."

Utena frowned in thought. "I could stay up and keep watch if I needed to. I'm sure that Anthy and Anastacia could rest—!" She was forced to pause as Anastacia's grip over her shoulders suddenly tightened.

"You need time to recover from your journey. If you wish, Anastacia, you could stay with me near the city's entrance. The Chosen Undead could be with us at any moment. If you are on friendly terms with them, I am sure that your presence would be a reassuring one upon their arrival."

Anastacia's tight hold relented, then went slack. She leaned most of her weight against Utena as she stood and hobbled forward. Utena supported her as best she could, but she was stunned by the mixture of terror and relief on her face as the firekeeper glanced wildly at both Anthy and the Knightess. She nodded quick assent to the Knightess, then fixed her gaze upon the floor.

"Very well. We shall leave soon. There's just a few things I was hoping we could discuss before I depart," she said, nodding towards Utena. "You found a black eye orb, yet the firekeeper still lives. How could that be?"

Anthy answered just as Utena shrugged. "Knight Lautrec obtained it from an earlier death and had left it behind as a trap. He expressed a desire to ensnare the Chosen Undead and kill them, as well."

"Hm." Her helm tilted. "Then why drag her all the way to the city when the travel here is so difficult?"

"Knight Lautrec promised to let her see Anor Londo if she were to leave with him," Anthy explained.

"To see Anor Londo and then be slaughtered." The Knightess sighed and crossed her arms. "He swept you off your feet, didn't he? Did you think you would be able to escape your duties and go on an adventure with him? There's no real shame in it, you know. Only naiveté. I'm sorry that you would have had to face such a betrayal if we had not caught up to you." Her tone was not unkind, but Anastacia cringed and looked away as the Knightess spoke.

"She knew exactly what she was doing," Anthy said flatly.

The Knightess paused. "Oh." Her hands dropped to her sides. "I see."

The four stood in awkward silence. Anastacia's shoulders started to shake from the exertion of keeping herself standing.

The Knightess came forward and tucked her arm around her, easily supporting her full weight. Utena stepped away gratefully and nodded her thanks.

"If you trust yourself to find them, the living quarters are not very far. In the main cathedral hall, ascend the stairway to your left. In the next building are many empty rooms that you can choose from. Just be careful." The Knightess readjusted her grip on the firekeeper as she spoke.

"Got it." Utena followed as the Knightess half-walked, half-carried Anastacia over to the elevator.

The Dragonslayer and the Executioner were still on watch on the ground floor. The Knightess gave Ornstein a brief salute as she went past. Utena simply stared at them warily until she began descending the staircase.

Utena waved a goodbye as Anastacia and the Knightess began ascending the stairwell on the right. This time, the armored giants paid her no mind, and the silver knight archer merely watched the proceedings from above.

Once she was up the stairs and out of a cathedral, she let out a long breath and looked at Anthy.

"So, Himemiya." She swallowed and looked out at the sliver of the city they could see between the two buildings. "Are you…well, you—I—"

"May we speak later, Miss Utena?" There was the faintest echo of brusqueness in her tone. "I am quite tired."

"Yeah!" Utena clasped her hands together and spoke quickly, her voice high and tense. "That's fine. We both had long days. I'm sure you need some alone time."

Anthy's face softened at that. "Oh, Miss Utena. I bear no anger towards you. There are…other problems that preoccupy me. I wish to have more time to think about them before I discuss them with you. Do you understand?"

Utena nodded with sympathy. "Of course! Yes." She let out a sigh of relief as she pulled the entrance to the side building open. "Listen, Himemiya, I'm just glad that you're being straightforward about what you want. It's not something that you do much, and I think that today of all days you have the right to do that."

Anthy stopped walking and blinked at her owlishly. Utena simply grinned and held the door open wide.

Inside the living quarters were a wide array of abandoned rooms and twisting staircases. Many of the rooms appeared livable, but the presence of watchful silver knights made her want to keep looking.

One door led to an abandoned kitchen full of cooking utensils and sacks of grain gathering dust. Another door led to a room full of decapitated dragon heads guarded by two patrolling knights. Another door led to a destroyed assembly room that housed a massive stone demon that breathed heavily and turned its inscribed face towards Utena. She quickly closed the door and continued her search.

A silver knight peered up at her as she and Anthy descended another stairwell. She gave them a respectful nod as she meandered down the hallway ahead.

A room on her left held another knight. She waved apologetically as she closed the door.

A room on her right made her pause before opening the door. If she listened closely, she could hear the familiar crackling of a fire.

She swung the door open and glanced around inside. A few scattered tables held parchment and quills. Shelves held books and various supplies along the walls. In the far corner, a bonfire burned brightly under the colored light of a line of stained glass windows.

Utena spotted a familiar figure and joyfully shouted a greeting. "Hey! Solaire!"

He looked over with surprise from where he sat cross-legged by the bonfire. He froze in the middle of cleaning the surface of his shield, one hand holding a rag while the other had jumped to the sword at his side. After he recognized her, he relaxed and waved the rag in the air.

"Tenjou! What an excellent surprise!" He gently set his shield at his side and waved them towards the bonfire. "You've found your way to Anor Londo as well? And ah, Lady Himemiya, too," he said as Anthy followed Utena into the room. "You both look quite well! Have your travels been fair to you?"

"Sort of," Utena responded as she sat by the bonfire with a huff. Anthy remained standing behind her. "It took a lot of trouble to get here, that's for sure."

"Ah, Sen's Fortress, of course. It is not the most welcoming of places." Solaire let out a short laugh.

"No, actually," Utena replied with a smile. "I managed to skip that bit. I ended up climbing the mountain itself—and oh! I have to tell you what Lautrec did, and how we met the princess, and—"

Anthy gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "I am going to go rest now, Miss Utena."

"Oh, okay!" Utena glanced around the room and cringed at the lack of any real furniture to rest on. "Are you sure that you don't want to find a room with a bed?"

"This will more than suffice, Miss Utena. It will be no different, really, than sleeping at the Shrine."

"That's true." She smiled at Anthy warmly. "I'm going to stay up for a little bit, but we'll talk quietly."

"There's no need to worry, Miss Utena." Anthy drew her hand back and went to the opposite end of the room. She lowered and lay on her side, her back to them.

Solaire waited for a few moments before leaning forward and speaking quietly. "Sorry, but you did _what_?"

The two spoke in excited whispers by the bonfire. Utena recounted how Touga had tricked her into a duel, her adventure up the mountain, how she had been aided by the Darkmoon Knightess, her confrontation with Lautrec, and the eventual rescue of both Anthy and Anastacia. She talked reverently of Gwynevere and anxiously of the cathedral's impressive guardians.

Solaire listened attentively, his cleaning duties long forgotten. "I am so impressed! You went through so much in order to protect your friends. That's a tale that could be passed down for generations."

Utena laughed. "Aw, come on! It wasn't as if I was going to let Lautrec get away with what he wanted to do!"

"But the Shrine's firekeeper _agreed_ to go with Lautrec, knowing of his intent?"

"Yeah." Utena shrugged and glanced into the flames. "I guess…she had been keeping that fire for a really long time, right? I guess she just decided she was done."

"And Lautrec had killed firekeepers before." Solaire's hand tightened into a fist. "You don't suppose that he had been placed in the cell in the Parish because of that?"

She frowned. "That's possible. It would make a lot of sense."

Solaire's helm tilted as he looked away. "I should have been more wary, it seems."

"Oh—there's no way anyone could have known. You can't blame yourself for that." Utena waved her hand dismissively, but Solaire didn't seem fully convinced. "Enough about that loser, though. He's probably getting his ass kicked by the Knightess as we speak. What about you? How did you get to Anor Londo?"

He seemed to perk up, and the conversation turned to the perils of Sen's Fortress. He had not seen Wakaba or Seigmeyer, but he had fought his way through hordes of snake-headed brutes and undead knights. He described a tense battle with a hollowed Astoran warrior that had pincushioned him with arrows and landed infallible blows with an elaborate rapier. He had also rushed headlong into a battle with a massive iron golem. After having been thrown to the ground far below the golem's arena, he had found the summon sign of an old hero on his way back to the battle. A combination of the might of Black Iron Tarkus and the power of Solaire's lightning miracles quickly brought the golem to its end.

The bat-winged demons then swooped down and brought him to the city, where he had been able to run past the gargoyles with ease due to the bridge having been lifted by the Knightess when she helped Utena enter the cathedral. The giants guarding the cathedral entrance were less easy to evade, and he was forced to clamber up the ramparts and avoid the massive bolts of the archers as he sought entrance to the keep.

"So cool!" Utena grinned. "Those archers are no joke! I'd say I couldn't believe that anyone could get past them, but here you are."

"I can't say that I enjoyed doing it," he replied with a laugh. "The fear of losing all my progress truly kept me at my best. Since the Knightess was busy assisting you, her bonfire had gone dim. If I had died as I went forward, I would have been sent all the way back to the Fortress! I was incredibly grateful that I found a fire here, and now I'm doubly grateful to have found such excellent company."

"Same! It's great to have someone to tell all this. It gives Himemiya an excuse to sleep, too," she said quietly. "I have so many things that I want to ask her, but she really deserves some rest."

Solaire nodded, then tilted his helm. "Out of curiosity, do you and Lady Himemiya have feelings for each other? The other Duelists keep calling her a bride, and it was Juri who said you were engaged."

Utena laughed nervously. "I think that the whole Rose Bride thing is just a name, like how firekeepers are just called firekeepers. They keep the fire lit, right? I guess she keeps the roses growing." She leaned forward and placed her chin on her hand. "Not that that really answers your question. Me and Himemiya..." Trailing off, she looked to the far corner of the room, where Anthy was sleeping soundly. "Sometimes, when I look at her, I feel like…like I'm about to remember something important. I really only met her a short time ago, but I feel so comfortable with her that it's as if we've known each other for years."

"Perhaps your fates are intertwined," he replied. "Could your meeting _really _have been mere chance?"

She smiled wanly. "That would explain a lot, wouldn't it?"

"Indeed. You two are perfectly complimentary to each other in combat and out. To see a pair as well matched as you both in this age of backstabbers and hollows honestly gives hope to the rest of us."

"Oh stop," she chuckled, waving a hand dismissively and trying to hide a blush. "What about you? Surely you've found somebody you're fond of on your journey."

"Ha! I've been far too busy trying to find my own sun to do such a thing."

She gave him a sly look. "You're sure that isn't a metaphor for finding true love or something?"

"Oh no, no." He crossed his arms and paused in thought. "Though, I do admit…"

"Yeah?" Utena grinned and steepled her fingers. "Go on?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I've fought at the side of the Chosen Undead many times now. This is meant with no offense to you," he said, his tone dropping to seriousness. "But the roses that Duelists wear offer very unique advantages over your opponents."

She nodded. "I'll give you that."

"The Chosen Undead has none such advantages. The amount of skill shown on the battlefield, the endless drive that they have to succeed…it has impressed me greatly. I do look forward to the opportunities I have to assist them."

She looked up to the ceiling and let out an exaggerated sigh. "You know, the Chosen Undead leaves letters for me every once in a while."

"Well, now you're just making me jealous!" Utena could tell by his eyes that he was smiling behind his helmet. She held up her hands in a dramatic shrug.

"I mean, if you don't want me to talk about it, then fine. I just thought you might be interested in all the glowing praise they've written about this Warrior of Sunlight that keeps helping them."

Solaire laughed and shook his head. "Surely you jest!"

"Not at all! Anyway, according to the Knightess, the Chosen Undead is going to be here pretty soon. Should I get Himemiya to make you a bouquet?"

He held up his hands in placation as he laughed again. "Enough, enough!"

The two continued chatting happily until Utena decided to catch up on her rest. She sat in a chair adjacent to Anthy and leaned forward over a desk, her head resting comfortably on her arm.

Shadows danced in the sunlight cast through the stained glass windows. Utena watched as they resolved themselves into familiar figures, though they appeared upside-down on the floor.

The first shadow cleared her throat. "Ahem. Now, if you would please give your attention to us, we can begin giving you a primer on the rich history of this city."

The second shadow nodded vigorously. "Yes! Anor Londo, the seat of power in Lordran, a place full of mysteries and magic and—"

A third shadow chimed in. Though the outline was unfamiliar to Utena, she was much like the other shadows. "Shush! You're getting ahead of yourself."

"Ah, yeah, yeah." The second shadow settled, and the first cleared her throat again.

"As I was saying. Anor Londo was home to Lord Gwyn, keeper of the First Flame, as well as his three children…uh…" The shadow trailed off, one finger held up in thought. The second shadow shuffled through some notecards.

"Let me check for you. Gwyn-something, Gwyn-something, and…"

The third shadow placed a hand on her forehead. "I was hoping you two would be more prepared than this."

The first shadow crossed her arms, affronted. "We had to travel quite a ways, you know! We didn't really have time to study! She kept rushing ahead!"

The second kept shuffling through cards. "Come on, it's in here, somewhere…"

The third gestured towards Utena. "Well, now she's going to be out of the loop! How else is she supposed to learn the history of this place?"

The second held up a notecard triumphantly. "Gwynevere! That's one!"

"Ah, yes! Gwynevere, the princess of sunlight!" The first shadow clasped her hands together. "Radiant and beautiful, Gwynevere sits upon the throne in her father's stead."

The second shadow held up a second notecard. "Gwyndolin! That's two!"

The third shadow clasped her hands together. "Dark Sun Gwyndolin, disciple of the moon! Moving in secret, working in the shadows!"

"And the third is…" The second shadow shuffled through the cards, sending some of them flying into the air. "The third is-!"

The other two shadows waited impatiently for her to find the card, the third tapping her foot while the first tried to read the notes over her shoulder.

"Well." Solaire's helm tilted as he looked at the stained glass windows above. "I was not aware that Anor Londo had such guides for its visitors."

Astonished, Utena sat up, followed his gaze, and saw the blurry sources of the shadows on the other side of the windows. The three girls froze in place.

A few notecards fell from the second shadow's hands. "Eh…"

The third crossed her arms. "It's awfully rude to interrupt."

The first pressed her hands against the window and squished her cheek against the glass. "Do we have a heckler?"

From off the left side of the window sounded a loud _thwock_. A massive bolt flew through the air, scattering notecards everywhere.

The second shadow jumped and clung to the third. "Hey!"

The silhouette of a silver knight archer strode into view, and the three shadows scrambled in an attempt to grab the scattered notecards and to avoid arrows now coming at them from the right.

"We'll continue the history lesson another time!" The third shadow hauled the second on her back while the first ran away from the oncoming knight. Their panicked yelps faded away as they escaped stage-left.

"…Friends of yours?" Solaire looked over at Utena with obvious confusion.

She sighed and let her forehead rest on the top of the desk. "I have no idea. I was sort of worried that I was the only one that could see them."

The rest of her relaxation was uninterrupted. When Utena awoke, she felt a bit sore from hunching over in the chair, but otherwise mentally and physically refreshed.

She glanced around the room and felt a jolt of panic when she couldn't find Anthy. She shot a questioning look to Solaire, who waved reassuringly and pointed to the door.

"She said that she was going to look outside for a short while. There's a balcony at the end of this hallway with an excellent view."

Utena nodded her thanks and walked briskly into the hallway, closing the door to the bonfire room behind her. She immediately tensed and reached for her sword when she saw Touga leaning against the wall.

He clapped once. "Well done. You made it to Anor Londo."

"How the hell did you get here?" she hissed, her blade half-drawn.

"Carefully." Touga pushed off the wall and stood with his arms crossed. "I just wanted to congratulate you on being such a hero."

"Would you shut up about the hero stuff?"

He smiled wanly. "Don't you feel like one?"

She frowned. "Touga, what the hell do you want?"

"Some thanks would be nice," he replied with an exaggerated pout. "I set the gears in motion for you to arrive here. Did you appreciate the practice in fighting two foes at once? The guardians of the cathedral were quite a challenge, I imagine."

Utena narrowed her eyes. "I didn't fight them at all, Touga. They were told to stand down by the princess."

A flash of surprise crossed his face, but he quickly hid it with a smirk. "Ah. I see."

"I didn't do the whole fortress thing either," she added. Touga simply raised an eyebrow in response.

"So I couldn't steal from their prophecy process as much as I wanted. That doesn't matter. The final result should still be the same."

"Do you not care about the fact Anthy could have died _at all_? Did you know that Lautrec almost killed her, and Saionji, too? Isn't Saionji your friend?"

He laughed. "Sure, Saionji is my friend. Perhaps he is my only friend. Or am I his?"

Utena glared, her hand tightening on the hilt. Touga shook his head.

"Don't be mad at me, Tenjou. Speaking of friends, I wasn't the one that stabbed you in the back."

"Yes, you did! Metaphorically and for real!"

"I'll give you metaphorically," he replied. "But it was the Bride who ended the duel."

Utena's eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you."

He shrugged. "Why don't you ask her yourself? I'm sure that you two have a lot to discuss. I won't hold you back any longer." He bowed and swung his arms to the right, gesturing towards the balcony entrance at the end of the hall.

Utena stared at him with distaste before turning on her heel and walking steadily towards the balcony. She could see the red of Anthy's dress shining richly in the sunlight. She was in the middle of running her hands through her long hair as Utena approached, and her glasses were resting on the railing.

She paused, her fingers halfway through detangling a curl, and looked at Utena with pursed lips.

Utena stood to her left and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the railing. She looked out over the golden city with a smile.

The two stood in silence until Anthy spoke up.

"The sky is quite lovely here, Miss Utena."

She peered up at the bright sun above. "It sure is. It's so much clearer up here than down in the Shrine."

"Do you find that curious?"

Utena raised an eyebrow. "Should I?"

Anthy was quiet.

Utena set her chin on her hand. "There's some other things that I'm curious about," she said, giving Anthy a sidelong look.

"Ah?" She stared forward blankly. "Is that so?"

"What happened during that duel? Why did the sword disappear when I needed it the most?"

Anthy stood as still as a statue, her fingertips resting lightly on the railing. Feeling tense, Utena glanced behind her to the dim interior of the building, worried that Touga was watching them. To her relief, he was gone.

"I will give you three reasons," Anthy finally said. "You may choose which you want to believe."

Utena nodded, and Anthy continued.

"One. It is not true that I knew of Sir Touga's plans. He fooled me just as he did you. The sword disappeared because of the strength of my despair. Touga placed the final blow."

"Two. I knew of his plans and was a willing participant. We both believed that you would leave the duel stronger than when you entered, even if you lost. The sword disappeared because I knew Saionji would be unkind and try to hurt you beyond the limits of your rose's protection. Saionji placed the final blow, but Touga was your successor because he initiated the challenge."

"Three." Her lips curled in a small smile. "I simply hate you, Miss Utena. Touga acted upon my orders. I planned the whole affair. The sword disappeared because I wanted you to lose. I placed the final blow myself."

A grin slowly grew on Utena's face. "Aw, man. I'm really not sure which answer I should pick. I suppose it must be the third one."

That earned her a small giggle from Anthy, who covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to hide her amusement.

"Well, the joke is on you! You have no idea how much I've always hated you, either! In fact, I climbed an entire mountain, scaled a ridiculously high wall, and defended you from murderous knights just so I could say it to your face." Utena placed her hands on her hips dramatically and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "So there!"

Anthy's eyes softened, and her hand dropped to rest over her heart. Her hair fluttered in the breeze as she gave Utena a genuine smile. "You did do all of that, didn't you?"

"I suppose I did." She tapped a finger on her chin as she thought of her next question. "What about Knight Lautrec? Was he in cahoots with Touga as well?"

Anthy's expression darkened. "No. He was not."

"Oh. I guess he ruined the whole plan, huh?"

"Perhaps." Anthy again turned her gaze out over the city. "It may not have been Touga's plan that he has ruined. Miss Utena, did you notice when that voice spoke to us in the cathedral?"

Utena nodded. "Of course. It would have been hard to miss."

"That voice was not that of the Princess, correct?"

Utena frowned as she thought back. "Now that you say that, it didn't really seem like her. It was much more serious sounding."

"Who spoke? Who saw us and decided to have mercy?"

"Someone with some common sense," Utena replied with a sigh.

Anthy made a noncommittal noise and began fixing her hair in its regular updo.

Utena turned warily at the sound of approaching armor. She relaxed upon recognizing the Knightess, who waved cheerfully as she strode towards them.

Her bronze helm shined brightly in the sunlight as she joined them on the balcony. "You look well rested! I trust that you found your way around without issue?"

Utena nodded. "Yeah, we ended up using the room with the bonfire in it. A lot of the rooms had those knights in them. Is that just where they live, or…?"

"Ah, no. They're on guard for when the Chosen Undead arrives."

"Oh." Utena frowned. "Don't you all _want_ the Chosen Undead to show up, though?"

The Knightess tilted her helm. "Pardon?"

"Isn't the Chosen Undead getting to the city a good thing? That gets them closer to doing the fire thing. Linking the flame, I mean. Isn't the Princess in favor of that?" Utena looked to the side, suddenly confused. "Or is she? I guess I'm not really sure."

"Of course she is," the Knightess answered quickly. "That is exactly why we have to stay so prepared. The Chosen Undead has to prove that they are strong enough to link the First Flame; thus, we prepare them as many trials as we can."

Utena sighed. "Of course."

"You seem at odds with this."

"I mean, not really," she stammered. "I think I get it. There just has to be more efficient ways to do this sort of thing."

"That may be." The Knightess crossed her arms and leaned against the entranceway. "But we do what we must with what we can." Her voice lowered and became tinged with unease. "There is another reason for having such defenses prepared."

"What is that?"

"If we were to learn that they would rather let the flame go out, we need to be able to destroy them."

A sudden commotion sounded from beyond the balcony. One of the bat-winged creatures scurried above on a narrow beam and gesticulated wildly at the Knightess. Utena spotted a few archers moving into position on the rooftops.

"Damn." The Knightess pushed off the wall and waved a quick signal to the bat-winged creature, which snarled and scrambled around the corner. "They've arrived already. Listen. I have high hopes for this undead, but I know not of their character nor disposition. They have killed before in order to reach this point, and we truly don't know what they will be willing to kill when they get here. I know that you can fight, but if you hear any commotion, please, stay hidden." She hovered her hand over the hilt of her sword as she began walking briskly down the hallway. "There are sacrifices that need to be made, but you two need not be one of them."

Utena shot a worried look to Anthy, who was cleaning her glasses with the cloth of her dress.

"That undead saved us once," said Utena. "They wouldn't have any reason to fight us now, right?"

"Sir Touga seems to enjoy handing out fine jewelry for favors," Anthy replied.

Utena made a noise of disgust and closed her eyes. "Let's just hope they didn't fall for that scam, alright?"

They waited in the bonfire room with Solaire. He had decided to stay with them, hoping that the Chosen Undead would be drawn to the bonfire on their way in.

They were passing the time by playing with a ragged set of cards Utena had found stashed on one of the shelves. As the game came to a close, she set down her last card with a sigh. "Darn! Stuck with the old maid again."

"Such bad luck!" Solaire gathered up all of the discarded cards and began shuffling them. "That's three games in a row."

"Perhaps you'll win next time," Anthy said reassuringly.

Utena frowned. "Are there any other games that we could try instead?"

A polite cough sounded from above. The three looked up towards the windows.

"If you're getting bored with your game, we've arranged for some entertainment!" A shadow girl clapped her hands once, and two more shadows ran in from each side of the window.

Utena glanced at her companions. Anthy was smiling blankly, and Solaire responded with a shrug.

She turned her attention back to the shadows. "Go for it," she answered with a sigh.

The center shadow clapped once more. "Alright! Let's begin."

The other two shadows crouched and grabbed a sheet, raising it up so that it blocked light from coming in through the window. One shadow imitated the sound of a drumroll as they shook the fabric dramatically.

"In the beginning, there was eternity," one girl said.

A light was produced somewhere behind the sheet. The girl held her hand up, contorting her fingers until she approximated the snapping maw of a dragon. The shadow was cast large upon the fabric and moved menacingly.

"Strange creatures moved in an unending twilight, able to exist happily outside of the passage of time. Until…"

There was a loud _thwock_, and an arrow tore through the sheet, scattering the image of the dragon.

"Hey!" The middle shadow shouted and waved her arms, the spotlight behind her now shining blindingly into the window. "Come on, we talked about this!"

No more arrows seemed to be coming. The middle shadow sighed and continued as the other two dropped the ruined sheet.

"A disparity occurred, and the First Flame appeared. With the Flame came the difference between light and dark, life and death. Figures came forth to claim lordship over these extremes. Nito claimed death."

The shadow on the left pulled the ruined sheet over herself and waved her arms while chanting ominously.

"The Witch of Izalith claimed life."

The shadow on the right pushed the spotlight so that it shined straight upwards. She nabbed the sheet from the other shadow and spun it around over the light in an attempt to make it look like a flame.

"And the great Lord Gwyn claimed light." The middle shadow pulled out a crown and set it upon her head. "And that was that!"

Utena raised her hand. "Nobody took the dark?"

The three shadows shushed her, and she lowered her hand sheepishly.

"With their powers combined, they were able to kill the undying, but they also had a secret weapon!" The middle shadow held up a finger. "One of the twilight immortals was not very immortal at all! They were so jealous of their brethren that they fought on the side of the Lords and gave away all of the secrets of the dragons!"

The shadow on the left spoke quickly. "Ah, but the Lords also _lost_ a not-so-secret weapon! Just as a dragon joined the Lords, one of the Lords joined the dragons! They did not act out of jealousy, but instead out of…"

The middle shadow tried to finish the sentence for her. "Pity? Compassion? Teenage rebelliousness?"

The shadow on the right threw up their hands. "Who knows? All of the Lords forgot about him soon enough, and soon there were no dragons left to remember their own betrayal! The Lords could claim the world for their own."

"But wait!" The shadow in the middle leapt forward. "They didn't expect that the First Flame would start to fade! Time was moving far too fast for them! What could they possibly do to fix it?"

The shadow on the left shrugged. "Throw some wood on it?"

The shadow on the right swirled the fabric over the light. "Try to make a new one?"

The shadow on the left stole the sheet back. "Whatever we do, it's going to take a real miracle to keep the fire lit forever."

The shadow in the middle placed her chin on her hand and slumped. The crown slid low on her forehead. "Oh, whatever should I do?"

Solaire leaned over to whisper to Utena. "I think I actually know this story."

The three shadows shushed him, but they were interrupted once more by a silver knight. The armored figure marched over to the window and knocked on the glass in order to get their attention, then pointed in the general direction of the cathedral, then pointed down at Utena.

Utena glanced over at Anthy. "Are we supposed to go over to the cathedral?"

"It seems so." She stood and brushed off her dress. "Will you be joining us?" she asked Solaire.

He looked away from the shadow girls, who were currently trying their best to push the knight out of their window space. "Ah, well, probably not. I wouldn't want to miss the Chosen Undead if they were to pass through, and I'm really not sure if I am actually welcome here."

Utena nodded. "Alright. We'll be back soon."

Utena walked along the balcony of the main hall, looking for what had caused her to be called over. She spotted the Knightess striding down the stairs. Following very carefully behind her was Anastacia, who was managing to walk with the help of two wooden crutches. Utena ran to meet them, not wanting to force the firekeeper to have to walk all the way down the steps.

"I have quite a lot to tell you," the Knightess said as she stopped on the landing. The silver knight guarding the spot took a few steps to the side in order to give them space. "The Chosen Undead did arrive. They had to pass through the Painting Guardians in order to advance into the city, as we expected. What we did not expect was for them to fall into the Painted World of Ariamis." She sighed. "If their return from that place counts as a test of their might, then we may as well just welcome them back into the city with open arms."

"They fell into a painting?" Utena asked with wide eyes.

"Its protectors could explain it better than I," the Knightess replied. "It was created in order to hide things that could not be accepted in this reality. It holds a world within itself, where strange beings may live without hurting those outside."

"Huh." Utena noticed that Anthy was listening to the Knightess with rapt attention. "It sounds fascinating. Would we be able to see it?"

The Knightess laughed briefly. "The guards are already in a tizzy over the Undead getting in. There's no telling what could happen upon their return. Perhaps they would let you see it after this whole debacle is over. Oh, and," she said, gesturing to Anastacia. "The Undead wrote you something, as did the firekeeper."

Anastacia smiled nervously as she reached into a satchel. She leaned heavily on her crutches as she retrieved two folded pieces of parchment. The first she handed to Utena. The second she held for a moment in hesitation and then handed to Anthy.

The Chosen Undead's letter read as follows:

"Hello!

Glad to hear that you're both doing well! It feels as if so much has happened since I last wrote to you. I rang the second Bell of Awakening! I suppose that makes me a real Chosen Undead now? I had to fight this strange spider woman down in the swamp to reach it. The advice that you gave me did come in handy. I also briefly ran into some of your friends: Kozue and Laurentius, I think? They had been surrounded by hollows. I helped clear them out as best I could.

After defeating the spider, I happened upon a tribe of odd men, all carrying humanity-laden eggs upon their backs. They were working under the protection of both the spider and what I imagine is her sister, who keeps a bonfire at the entrance to Lost Izalith. I do not understand her language, but her closest attendant, Eingyi, helped me to realize at least a little about her plight.

Much of what I saw gave me pause. I thought that the spider had been another test to keep me from the bells, but I believe that she may have just been protecting her sister from harm. I wondered if I could find more answers about this whole process by returning to the Undead Asylum. I didn't find much of use, just more hollows and more bloodshed."

The writing became more cramped as the parchment began to run out of room.

"I also met a strange character when I returned to the Shrine. Kingseeker Frampt, a serpent of some sort, instructed me to go to Sen's Fortress and seek entrance to Anor Londo. The bonfire had also gone out, which gave me great worry until I arrived here and saw our firekeeper alive and well! The Knightess isn't very forthcoming about what happened to bring her here, but from what little she has said I imagine that you two were involved.

So now the city lies in wait for me! Perhaps we will come across each other during my adventure. You'll have to tell me all about how you got here! Sen's Fortress is just a mess, isn't it?

Yours,

_The_ Chosen Undead (Ha!)"

Anastacia's note was written with a shaky, unsure script, but the large letters were easily legible. Utena couldn't help her curiosity and managed to read it alongside Anthy.

"Thank you Lady Himemiya for saving my life. I was afraid at first, but now I realize. You must have been a miracle sent at the last second. My duty lies with firekeeping, but the good Knightess is showing me that it need not be so bad.

I have not spoken to anyone in a very long time. Writing is no different. If my voice does not offend, then perhaps we could discuss more in the future.

I feel a great curiosity growing within me. For so long I felt as if the Shrine were my tomb. So many travelers passed through without me ever even seeing their faces. How much have I missed? How much have I not seen? Much of the world still frightens me. I do not know if I have the strength to face it. But having seen you…I will feel this pain forever, won't I?

Thank you, truly.

Anastacia of Astora."

Anthy folded the letter in half and stared blankly at Anastacia, who was now looking carefully at the floor.

"Since the city will be calm again for a short while, you both may speak to the Princess, if you so desire," the Knightess said. "You have the freedom to enter her chambers for as long as the Undead is within the painting. When they return, however, it would be best to again stay away from any conflict."

Utena nodded in assent. "Great! We'll probably be talking to her very soon."

"Then we shall hold you no longer." The Knightess gave a short bow, which Utena returned with a smile. Anastacia was not able to bow, but she inclined her head deeply before turning to leave.

Utena turned and began walking towards Gwynevere's chambers. Once she was sure she was out of the earshot of the Knightess, she whispered to Anthy. "The Shrine firekeeper looks like she's doing much better now, huh?"

Anthy replied distractedly, her letter clutched at her side. "Is that so?"

"I think that the Knightess is really going to help her out," she added. "It seems like you've really helped, too."

Anthy still wasn't paying her much attention. "Hm. I suppose so."

Utena decided to stop pressing the subject as they approached the waiting Executioner. She grit her teeth as she smiled and walked past him with a jaunty wave. "Excuse us! We're just visiting the Princess real quick."

Her shoulders hunched in response to his laugh as he returned the wave. She hurried onto the elevator, where she and Anthy quickly ascended out of his sight.

The Dragonslayer stood at the edge of the second floor balcony, not far from the bonfire. He glanced at them briefly before returning his attention to the main hall entrance. Utena scurried past him and opened the large doors to Gwynevere's chamber with relief.

The goddess welcomed them with a kind smile. She glowed with a pleasant warmth, resplendent in the golden sunlight filtering in behind her. "Welcome back, dear hero. Will you be regaling me with tales of thine adventures?"

"If that's what you wish." Utena took a knee and bowed her head. Anthy kneeled on the floor next to her.

The princess laughed. "Perhaps! I would love to hear such a story. Would thou be so kind to entertain me?"

Utena grinned and began recounting what she could remember, from her first confrontation with Saionji, to the expedition into Blighttown, to her scuffle with Miki, to her near-beatdown with Juri, to her last duel with Touga and her climb up the mountain. She left out a lot of the finer points of the dueling process, as she did not feel confident enough to explain them fully. The goddess listened closely, clasping her hands together and laughing or gasping in response to the story.

Utena felt a bit of worry each time she stole a glance at Anthy. While her face was tilted downwards, she was staring at the Princess with a frighteningly unreadable expression.

As the story drew to a close, she nudged Anthy with her shoulder. "And of course, the only reason I was able to make it this far was Himemiya, really. Without her and her roses I would probably be dead in some alleyway in the Burg."

"Ah, how wonderful!" Gwynevere turned her radiant smile upon Anthy, who was now looking at the floor. "It is good of thee to be true allies to one another. That is a rare thing to see in this age."

Anthy lifted her head and smiled vacantly in response.

Utena pushed back her disquiet as she spoke. "We thank you so much for your kindness, Princess. Could we talk to you again soon?"

"Of course!" Gwynevere leaned forward on her pillow and let her head rest upon her elbow. "I greatly welcome the company of thee and thy companion."

"Great!" Utena lifted herself to her feet. "I think that we'll leave to rest for a little while, then come back. See you then!"

Gwynevere waved them off with a smile. As they left the chamber, the great wooden doors closed behind them. At some point, the Dragonslayer had descended on the elevator, and the space around the bonfire was empty. As Utena looked over at Anthy, she caught a glimpse of anger in her expression.

Utena cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled over the side of the balcony. "Hey! You, out there!"

Ornstein and Smough turned to stare at her from the ground floor. She ignored them and called out again. "Hello! Are you listening?"

Anthy tugged at her sleeve. "Miss Utena. What are you doing?"

"The voice, remember?" She took a deep breath and shouted. "Hello-o!"

Her voice echoed away into nothing. She waited with bated breath for a response. The resulting silence was inexorable.

Finally, the familiar voice rang out. "I take it that thou demandeth my audience?"

Utena smirked in her victory and crossed her arms. "I just want to give my thanks, if you would let me. Whoever you are, you really saved my butt from those two," she said, pointing towards Ornstein and Smough. "Could I at least talk to you face to face?"

"Thou know not of whom thou speaketh to?" The voice seemed vaguely amused.

"Another guard of this place, right? Some sort of magician, maybe? Or a ventriloquist, because of the whole voice thing—"

The voice interrupted her, resounding loudly. "I am the Dark Sun, Gwyndolin, a shadow of Father Gwyn and Sister Gwynevere. It is true that I guard this place. If thy wish is truly to speak with me, then kneel before the Godmother's chamber entrance."

The light that leaked through the doorframe faded into darkness. Utena kneeled before the threshold to the chamber and waited for the doors to open. She glanced back at Anthy, who remained standing.

The doors opened. An image resolved in front of her, filling the space where the chamber of the princess had been. Pale blue light fell in columns from above. A figure shrouded in darkness approached. A star-like crown covered most of the figure's face and glittered a hard gold. White hair brushed against a delicate lace shawl. A dress of fluttering cloth descended into the shadows and disappeared into nothingness.

Utena heard the rustle of fabric as Anthy finally kneeled behind her.

Gwyndolin offered the shadow of a smile. "Thou may rise, Tenjou. And thee, Himemiya. Was it not thine wish to speak face to face?"

"Of course!" Utena clambered to her feet, bowed once, and smiled. "I apologize for being so forward. I should have realized that you could have been royalty!"

"Worry not. Thou hast offendeth none." Gwyndolin leaned forward, the spindly crown shimmering in the light. "Thou hast expressed desire to give thanks?"

Utena laughed and ran a hand through her hair. "Thank you for telling the guards to stand down! And for directing us to the Princess. We would have been done for, otherwise." She frowned and looked askance, noticing that Anthy was now standing with a thoughtful expression. Utena considered that a great improvement over her earlier discomfort. "Just saying thank you doesn't feel like much, though. I know there's a lot going on around here with that Undead showing up. Is there anything that we could do to help? That way, we could repay your favor."

Gwyndolin's head tilted in thought, and the lace on the white shawl fluttered faintly. "The good will of the Godmother allows thee to stay here. If it is thy wish, thou may repay thy perceived debts by pledging thyself as her guard. If fate is kind, it is not a covenant that shall require much of thee, but in thy joining thou shalt show thyself as a stalwart protector and loyal blade of Anor Londo. The Guard is noble work, and nobility seems to be thy calling."

Utena grinned. "I would be glad to!"

"Then kneel once more." Gwyndolin drew forth an elaborate catalyst from the darkness and leaned forward, holding it over Utena's shoulders. "Like the princes of old, may thou swear by the covenant to become the defender of the Godmother and uphold the will of the Sun, and the Princess's protection shall be granted to you whenever it be need'st." The catalyst dropped close to each shoulder and was then drawn back.

Utena had to stifle a giggle. She felt a bit absurd, kneeling before a deity as if she were actually being knighted. At least Gwyndolin seemed to share some of her amusement. The Dark Sun smiled as a shining object appeared in the darkness and fell to the ground.

"A ring, to remind thee of thy duty. Thou may now rise, valued member of the Princess's Guard."

The golden ring felt slightly warm in Utena's hand. She looked at it with awe, investigating the curling designs etched along the outer metal.

Gwyndolin retreated into the darkness with a nod of the golden crown. "And with that, I believe our exchange comes to a close."

Utena looked up from the ring with wide eyes. She called out as she jumped to her feet. "Wait-!"

The darkness became absolute, and the doors swung to a close. Utena held the ring tightly and felt it press against her rose seal.

"Miss Utena."

She turned on her heel and saw Anthy standing near the bonfire.

"I grow tired. May we rest?"

"O-of course." She frowned and held out the ring. "What do you think of this?"

Anthy stared at it blankly. "A pretty trinket, isn't it, Miss Utena?"

She drew back her hand. "Yeah. I guess it is."

Solaire welcomed them warmly when they returned to the bonfire room. Utena explained the issue of the painting to him as Anthy prepared to nap in the far corner of the room. He expressed disappointment at the delay, but was glad to hear that at least progress had been made.

Utena excused herself, feeling that a short rest would be a great way to organize her thoughts. She decided to rest on the floor, hoping that it would undo the crick out of her neck that had been left by sleeping on the desk.

She was about to fall asleep when she heard rustling movement. Utena watched through half-closed eyes as Anthy crouched by the bonfire. Paper crinkled as she pulled Anastacia's letter from her bag. She read it once more, looking as if she were drinking in each word with the firelight.

Once finished, she folded the letter carefully and placed it in the flames.

Utena suddenly felt ill with worry. She tried to rouse herself from her twilight state and reach out—

The letter burned. Anthy stood and left the side of the fire. Utena felt as if she were paralyzed.

The flames danced across the walls, casting wild shadows on the scattered shelves and supplies. The three shadow girls stood across from an upright broom that had a crown resting upon its bristles. Two shadows held up sock puppets that had round eyes, long facial flaps, and blocky teeth. The third shadow stood between them, holding a roll of parchment.

"Pop quiz!" The third shadow unrolled the paper with a flourish as she bowed. "A few questions for the king to answer!"

"Yes, yes!" The first shadow wobbled the head of her puppet, causing the flaps to swing wildly.

"Your opinion is needed greatly!" The second shadow mirrored her movement.

The broom stood silently, and the third shadow cleared her throat.

"Question one! Would you rather that the world would end with the rule of fire—"

"Ekpyrosis!" The first shadow waved the sock around.

"—Or with water?"

"Kataklysmos!" The second shadow opened and shut her hand, gnashing the teeth of the puppet.

The broom had no response.

"Question two! Would you rather have light, or dark?"

"If you need light to cast shadows," the second shadow asked, "Do you need shadows to cast light?"

"Of course not," the first shadow replied. "That's silly."

The broom had no opinion on the matter.

"Question three! Would you rather be alive, or dead?"

"What a ridiculous question!" The first shadow pulled off the sock puppet and threw it over her shoulder. "Alive, of course!"

"Ah, but what is the point of being alive if you will only end up dead?" The second shadow flung her sock puppet off of her hand.

The broom seemed impartial.

"Ah! Then you must be a man after my own heart!" The third shadow threw her paper up in the air; as it fluttered downwards, her outfit transformed into an elaborate regalia. She drew a sword and pointed it up in the air.

"I have an offer to make you! I am but a traveling prince. My kingdom holds many treasures and wonders. It is so magical that it can even come with me on my journey!"

The outline of a castle descended as the other two shadows pulled on a system of ropes and pulleys. Utena could hear a distant rumbling and grinding of metal. The skyline descended over the prince, an upside down image of a beautiful citadel.

"I would love to share my secrets with you. You see," the princely shadow said, leaning forward and whispering conspiratorially. "I have been a prince since the dawn of time! How do I keep my handsome, youthful looks, you ask? Well, it's quite simple!"

She paused dramatically as the other two leaned in with anticipation. The sound of grinding metal seemed to grow louder.

"I reject life!" The third shadow swished her sword downwards for emphasis. "I reject death!" The sword swung in a wide arc, causing the other two shadows to scramble backwards. "I refuse it all! I accept only that which is eternal! To know not of fire or water, light and dark, life and death! I shut my eyes to it, and look only upon eternity! You should join me!" The prince took another bow. "To do so is to be forever!"

"Whaa!" The first shadow held her hands to her mouth in shock.

"But for such a thing to happen to you—it would take a miracle!" The second shadow clasped her hands together.

"Consider yourself lucky!" The third shadow held a finger up in the air. "I know exactly how miracles work."

The first shadow mirrored the movement of a pair of scissors with her hand. "_Gashunk, gashunk_."

The sound of distant machinery reached a crescendo. The broom fell over, the crown clattering on the floor. The three shadows froze and looked at each other.

"Oh dear."

(Next time, on For Friendship, Perhaps : A dragon explains sacred mechanisms. Anor Londo keeps up its appearances. Sacrifices are averted. The walk back to the Shrine is a long one.)

(This chapter's title is from Asutoragarusu Chikyuu Sugoroku. This song is never used in the show, but the lyrics are quite fitting! Additional listening can be found with Gwyndolin's theme.)

(Thank you all as always for comments and kudoses! I really enjoy reading your responses. See ya next time!)


	8. child of dragon natural magic of atavism

Utena awoke with a start. For some reason, her heart was pounding. Her back ached horribly from sleeping on the floor. Her head buzzed as she sat up and glanced around.

"Ah, Miss Utena!" Anthy smiled and called to her from where she stood in the hallway. "Good morning! Or, perhaps, noon?"

"Hey, Himemiya." She stretched, causing her back to pop. "What are you doing?"

"I was simply walking," she replied. "I wanted to see how much of the city is the same as the last time I was here."

"Oh, sounds like fun." Utena interlaced her fingers and pressed her hands against each other, cracking her knuckles. Her eyebrows suddenly furrowed. "Wait, the last time-?"

"Much of it is the same, though the keep has been renovated in parts. That is understandable, as the building has stood for thousands of years—"

"You've been here before," Utena stammered. "When was that?"

Anthy pursed her lips. "Long ago."

"Jeez, that's helpful." Utena sighed as she finished stretching. She noticed that the spot by the bonfire that usually held Solaire was empty, though his sword and shield were left behind. "Where's-?"

"Lady Himemiya is an excellent tour guide," Solaire said as he arrived in the hallway. He sounded slightly out of breath. "And a fast walker! She was kind enough to chaperone me through the cathedral."

Anthy clasped her hands together. "Miss Utena, if you wouldn't mind, there is a specific place I would like to go and see. Will you come with me?"

"Of course!" She scrambled to her feet. "Where did you want to go?"

"Not far at all," Anthy replied. "Just outside of the cathedral, down the spiral staircase."

"Oh, you're going to the other chapel?" Solaire spoke with great interest. "Isn't that where that painting is? I suppose it would be a fascinating thing to see."

Utena nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we can all go! Maybe we can check in on Anastacia, too-"

Anthy smiled. "Ah, no, if you would, Utena. I apologize for excluding you," she said quickly, nodding to Solaire. "I simply wanted the opportunity to spend some time alone with my fiancé. There is something very dear to me that I wanted to share with her."

"Oh! No need to apologize!" Solaire laughed a bit nervously. "It was rude of me to assume!"

"Think nothing of it," Anthy replied. She nodded towards Utena. "Shall we be going?"

Anthy led the way to the exterior of the cathedral, striding past the blacksmith giant and the grouchy bat-winged demon that opened the gate with a snarl.

Utena glanced at the armored giants with worry as they began descending the steps leading up to the cathedral. "So, Himemiya, what was it that you wanted to show me?"

Anthy pointed towards a metal lever at the end of the wide walkway. "Would you pull that for me, Miss Utena?"

"…Sure." She grunted as she pulled and heard the handle move with a loud _kachunk_. The air resounded with the grinding of stone as the massive spiral staircase rose to meet them. "Himemiya, where are we going?"

"They've changed something," she answered flatly.

Utena frowned as she followed her onto the top of the massive spiral staircase. "What do you mean, they've changed something?"

Anthy pointed towards a long lever at the center of the stairwell. "If you would, Miss Utena."

As she pushed, the lever slowly slid forward, and the staircase began to rotate, descending to its lower configuration. Utena let out a long breath and ran her hand through her hair. Anthy's previously cheery disposition had dissolved, leaving behind a familiar blankness that made Utena shiver.

"Listen, Himemiya, are you okay?" Utena put her hands on her hips. "Ever since we got here, you've been acting a bit off. Are you upset about something? Did something happen here?" She paused. "Did _I_ do something?"

Anthy was silent, her eyes looking blank, as if her mind was somewhere far away.

"I have not had the chance to see my brother," she finally answered, "in a very long time."

Utena blinked at her, uncomprehending. "Your…brother?"

"Yes." Anthy smiled wanly. "Being in the city again brings back many memories. Did I tell you that I knew Gwynevere? I lived within this cathedral for a time. Miss Utena…I was so very jealous of her. She, a righteous princess, doted upon by all. I remember feeling so happy when I found out her elder brother had disgraced her family. I remember how much she cried…yet, for all of her sadness, nothing changed. Time went forward. It was as if her brother never existed."

Utena stared at her, then laughed nervously. "You know, Himemiya, when you say stuff like that it's hard for me to realize that you're joking."

Anthy simply continued talking. "I comforted her then, Miss Utena. I did my best to make her feel that the world was becoming right again, but I simply wanted to enjoy how I now had something that she did not. My brother would never leave me. He could never leave me."

Utena's face fell. "Himemiya…"

"And now, she does not recognize me." She smiled widely. "Am I just as her brother was? A disgrace to be forgotten? I may have been envious, but I was careful to never let her see that face. Would she not remember me as a comfort?"

"Himemiya, _wait_." Utena held onto the lever handle for balance as the staircase ceased its rotation. To her chagrin, Anthy turned on her heel and began walking down the steps.

Solaire had been right; she was a brisk walker when she wanted to be. Utena ran to catch up and could catch snippets of her wondering out loud.

"Why this room?" Anthy ran her hand along the stone as she descended. "Why change this place?"

"Himemiya!" Utena caught up with her just as she exited the stairwell and began striding towards a round room. In the center, a bonfire glowed orange, casting dim light upon the walls. Dozens of small carved icons lined the room, creating a circle of watchful knights. Beneath them lay stones inscribed with text. At the wall opposite the entrance stood a tall statue of a kingly figure. He held a gold-inscribed sword, and a shining crown adorned a carved mass of wild hair.

Utena ignored most of those details as she tried to get Anthy's attention. "Himemiya, please, slow down. You're dropping a whole lot of information on me very quickly!"

"Here," she replied, raising a hand to point at the statue. "Why seal away the room?"

"What are you talking about?" Utena felt her stomach twisting in concern.

"This had been a place to meet in secret," she replied. "Where they made decisions that would carve out their place in time. Where he decided to abandon my brother's cause. Why, now, is it gone?"

Anthy reached forward and placed her hand upon the base of the statue. Her glasses glinted in the firelight as she turned to look at Utena.

"Here," she said quietly. "Look."

Utena steeled herself, then walked over to Anthy's side. She looked the statue up and down, then turned to Anthy in confusion.

"It's just a statue. Gwyn, right? Listen, what were you saying about having a brother?"

Anthy gently placed a hand on Utena's shoulder and pushed her forward.

"Himemiya-?" Utena's eyes went wide as she passed through stone. She turned to look back to the bonfire, where the image of the statue seemed to waver in and out of existence. In flashes, she could see Anthy standing on the other side of the illusion. Anthy pointed beyond where Utena was standing and nodded.

Utena could hear voices further in the shadowy depths of the chamber. She turned and spotted the golden armor of the Dragonslayer kneeling before a mass of fog. Tensing, she leaned back behind a column jutting out of the wall and hid while trying to hear what he was saying.

Ornstein's voice was gruff and echoed oddly from his lion-faced helm. "With all due respect, thou had never met thy brother. I know the Princess's heart still aches at his absence, but I also know of her insistence at keeping the cathedral well-guarded. If thy decree as the Dark Sun was to send me in search of his assistance, then I would be able to—"

"Thou wouldst not have the time to find him, Ornstein. The Undead would be upon the cathedral likely before thine exit of Lordran. I am not about to usurp the will of my sister just so that thou mayst seek a traitor's aid."

"A traitor's aid is better than none, thy radiance."

"Don't patronize me, Dragonslayer."

"We know not of the goals of this Undead, of what they will do upon reaching the Kiln—"

"Ornstein."

"I only wish to seek him out in order to protect her—"

Gwyndolin's voice was hard and unyielding. "My will is that of the Godmother's. Thou art to stay in the cathedral and guard it to the full extent of thine ability."

Ornstein was silent.

Gwyndolin's tone, while still commanding, had a note of sorrow. "I understand thy desire. I know that thy loyalty to the will of the Sun runs deep, perhaps deeper than that of any of your fellows. I know thou shalt give thy greatest effort in protecting her."

Ornstein's helm inclined slightly. "As my honor commands it."

"Go, then. Return to thy post. The costs that we must all soon pay will benefit the whole of the world in the end."

Ornstein stood, took a low bow, and then turned to leave.

In panic, Utena glanced back towards the statue. Anthy was nowhere to be seen. Holding her breath, she pressed her back against the wall and tried to make herself as small as possible.

Thankfully, the Dragonslayer seemed distracted by his thoughts and passed by her hiding place without incident. She waited until he was well beyond the illusory statue before stepping forward and staring at the wall of fog with growing curiosity.

She raised her hand and gently pushed through the barrier. Her vision slowly cleared, and she looked into the room beyond.

Gwyndolin was sitting alongside a grand stone coffin. White robes draped downwards over the chair and shifted minutely with the movement of the dozens of serpents that grew forth from where the deity's legs would have been. Startled by Utena's approach, Gwyndolin looked up from the tomb; both the golden crown and fresh tears glistened in the light.

Utena stood still, her eyes wide, unsure of what to focus on first.

"You've got snakes for legs," she finally blurted out, breaking the silence.

Gwyndolin wiped away the tears with a sniff. "After all that has been done, that is what thy first words for me are?"

Utena grimaced and felt her face flush. "Oh—no, I—"

Gwyndolin stood, the snakes slithering into support. "Please. I wish for the tomb to remain undisturbed. If we are to speak further, we shall do so outside. Usually, such trespasses would be rewarded with a swift death. For thee, however, I feel that I may make an exception."

"Tomb?" Utena wrung her hands as she stepped back.

"This is the final resting place of my father, the great Lord Gwyn." Gwyndolin gently ushered Utena back through the fog. "This chamber is where he made the decision to give himself to the First Flame. The tomb stands as monument to his choice."

"I'm really sorry," Utena stammered. "I didn't mean to barge in—"

"Worry not." Gwyndolin followed her through the fog, snakes skittering along the stones as they advanced. "I know thy mistake was made in innocence. Thou hast done no harm."

Utena's shoulders slumped with relief. "Thanks. But…" She trailed off as she looked up. Gwyndolin's expression was still troubled and morose, and Utena felt a pang of concern. "Are you okay?"

"I am quite well." Gwyndolin offered a wan smile. "Thou had merely stumbled in during a moment of doubt. Thy presence, while a surprise, is appreciated as a reminder of my duty."

Utena frowned. "Duty?"

"To guard my father's tomb, no matter the threat."

"But—if he went into the flame, then, wouldn't it be-?"

"Empty," Gwyndolin answered. "Yes. But the meaning of this place is a sacred one, and I will not have it trampled upon. I owe my father that courtesy at the very least."

"_Owe_ him?" Utena blinked in confusion. "Why would you_ owe _him?"

"When I was young," Gwyndolin said softly, "my father decided to raise me as a daughter, because of my affinity for the sorceries of the moon. I feel that it may have been his goal to…average out my oddities. If my appearance could not be resolved, then at least my skills could be put into alignment. I know not of if that decision lessened his disappointment in me."

Utena's eyebrows furrowed. "But—why be disappointed?"

"I could never be beloved as my sister was, and though my elder brother was long gone, I would never cast a shadow as great as his. I earned my father no political advantages, no exceptional military strength. The least I could do in return for his care and protection would be to do something approaching normality. I threw myself into the roles he chose for me with all of my heart, and yet…" Gwyndolin sighed. "Having the ability to choose for myself would have been appreciated. In any case, I am, for the most part, at peace with my place within the city. Only on rare occasions does my heart ache with something other than grief. Sometimes, I feel, that if I had the chance, I could have been…" Gwyndolin trailed off and looked away, lips set in a firm line.

"Been something more? Something less?" Utena stammered as she tried to finish the sentence. "Something different?"

Gwyndolin was silent.

Utena looked at the ground. "When I was much younger," she said quietly, staring at the rose crest on her finger, "I thought, for some reason, that there was some big important thing that I should be like. A lot of people said that little girls should be like princesses, and little boys like princes. I never wanted to be a princess. It seemed so boring! But then…" She trailed off and frowned. "I learned about being a prince. Somehow, the idea seemed so impressive to me…being noble, helping people that are in need, all that stuff. But even that seemed like it just…wasn't enough, or maybe it was too much. I can't—I can't tell," she stammered, feeling her eyes sting with tears. "I know I've been running around like I'm some sort of prince, lately. But there's something in me that wants me to figure out something _past_ that. Like—a higher ideal to aim for."

Gwyndolin laughed softly. The golden crown dipped low as the deity placed a hand on Utena's shoulder. "Well then, dear hero. May we both find success in seeking higher ideals."

Utena beamed in response.

"I am curious, however." Gwyndolin's head tilted. "How is it that thou found thy way into this place? I have the entrance sealed with an enchantment, in order to keep out unwanted visitors."

"Oh! Himemiya got me in." Utena turned to look back at the wavering image of the statue and squinted as she tried to catch a glimpse of her.

Gwyndolin drew back. "Bring her within the chamber. I wish to speak with her." With a wave of the catalyst, the statue disappeared entirely. Utena nodded and ran out to the chamber's entrance.

Anthy was sitting quietly by the bonfire. The staircase was no longer connected to the tomb, having ascended when Ornstein returned to the cathedral. She looked up at Utena as she approached.

"Hey, Himemiya." Utena waved tentatively. "You can come in."

Anthy nodded and rose to her feet. She followed Utena to the entrance of the tomb, where Gwyndolin waited with crossed arms.

"Dragonslayer Ornstein made mention of thee," Gwyndolin began. "Thou hast been in the city before?"

Anthy nodded. "Yes. I stayed here for quite some time. My brother and I sought asylum from threats in our homeland, and Lord Gwyn was kind enough to offer his protection."

The star-like crown tilted. "I see."

Anthy bowed her head. "I am simply elated at being able to see my dear Gwynevere again. We used to be quite close. I was her blossom; she was my sunbeam. I grew so much with her presence. And yet…" She trailed off, pouting and glancing to the side. "She seems to not recognize me any longer. My heart aches at being ignored so."

Gwyndolin frowned. "Ah. I see. Perhaps my dear sister fears what thy response to her would be, as thou hast not spoken in so long."

Anthy smiled. "Perhaps that is so. Perhaps it is not."

"Thou holdeth the skill required to dispel my ward of this chamber," Gwyndolin stated flatly.

"I have some small knowledge of illusions," Anthy replied.

The two stared at each other blankly. Utena cleared her throat.

"So, Himemiya," she said. "Could you finally explain what you were talking about earlier?"

"If the Dark Sun wills it, I would like to speak with the Duke Seath," Anthy said. "The Duke was involved in a project of my brother's and Lord Gwyn's that inadvertently caused great harm. I wish to right old wrongs that were done here."

Gwyndolin was silent for a long time. Utena glanced back and forth between the two with growing unease.

"Thou seeketh the Engine," the deity finally said.

"I do," Anthy replied.

Utena raised her hand. "I'm lost."

Her complaint was ignored by both.

Gwyndolin sighed. With a swish of the catalyst, a book materialized out of the air, surrounded by glowing white sigils. Utena managed to catch it just before it hit the ground.

"The Knightess will escort thee to the entrance of the Archives. When approached by one of the Duke's attendants, give them this tome. It is a primer on the oldest of the moon sorceries. While the knowledge within is quite dear to me, I am willing to give it to thee so that it may be traded for thy protection."

"Th-thank you," Utena replied, looking the book over. The cover was a deep blue color, and the pages within were well-kept but worn thin.

"I am placing great trust in thee," Gwyndolin added, nodding towards Anthy. "Cause no trouble. Do no harm."

Anthy took a low bow, then turned to leave. Stunned, Utena bowed as well and hurried to follow her out of the chamber.

Once they were in the bonfire area, the statue solidified behind them with a loud _crack_. In awe, Utena rapped her knuckles on the stone. The statue felt completely solid.

She realized with a start that Anthy was struggling to pull the lever that recalled the stairwell to them. She rushed forward to help her, and the stone was soon spiraling down to meet them.

As she followed her up the stairs, she spoke in exasperation. "Himemiya, I get that what you're doing must be really important to you, but could you please tell me what's going on?"

Anthy sounded amused. "Have the history lessons not been enough?"

"Himemiya, _please_."

"If you would," she replied, pointing towards the central lever. Utena leaned all of her weight against it, and the staircase began to ascend.

"There has got to be an easier way to do this," she complained as she leaned against the metal bar.

Anthy gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Utena. I apologize if I seem rash. This may confuse you now, but the narrative will soon become clear."

The staircase slid into its higher configuration. Utena was surprised to see the Knightess already waiting for them on the walkway above. "Master Gwyndolin informed me that you will be going to the Duke's Archives." Her helm tilted. "Is that wise? The Duke isn't exactly known for having visitors."

Utena held up the book. "I guess this gets us in safely."

"I would be more concerned with you getting out than going in," the Knightess replied. She motioned for them to follow as she walked towards the elevator at the far end of the walkway.

The metal screeched as the platform slowly lowered to them. Utena winced at the sound.

"I do wish they would fix that," the Knightess said with a sigh. As the elevator finished ascending, she went to the right and bypassed a set of armored giants. Beyond them was a forested trail that led to a high stone wall. The arched entrance was blocked by a thick haze the color of a setting sun.

"Well," the Knightess said flatly. She crossed her arms and stared at the impassable orange barrier. "The Archives are sealed away until the Chosen Undead is bequeathed the Lordvessel, but for some reason, I feel that won't stop you."

Utena grinned and looked at the hillside adjacent to the gateway. The thick foliage and rocky ground would make for an easy ascent.

"Well, if nothing else, I am learning how to be a human elevator." She crouched so that Anthy could climb on to her back. "Ready?"

"Ready, Miss Utena." Anthy's arms wrapped around her firmly, and her added weight was easy to carry. Utena briefly wondered if her satchel, full of roses and Gwyndolin's book, was heavier than she was.

"Do be careful, will you?" The Knightess took a few steps back and looked up at the Archives. "I know Master Gwyndolin has granted you protection, but I hold many doubts as to the Duke's capacity for sound judgement."

"Well, he's a Duke, right? That's a title under all the princesses and stuff. If he doesn't do what Gwyndolin asks, he's probably breaking all sorts of laws."

"That may be," the Knightess replied. "But Duke Seath seems to enjoy slithering his way around the rules."

"Yeah, well." Utena patted the hilt of the sword at her side. "I'm sure I can convince him otherwise if I need to."

"…Of course." The Knightess's tone was highly doubtful.

Utena shot her one last smile before hoisting herself up on an outcropping of rock. The main building of the Archives was far away, but the age of the outer stone would make it easy to scale.

After making a good amount of progress, she found a narrow ledge that she could stop to plan ahead on. She restrained herself from looking down to see if the Knightess was still watching and instead trained her gaze above. After a stretch of steep hillside, the slope evened out to a walkable upwards incline. At the peak was the bulk of the Archives, where the white stone exterior glimmered in the golden sunlight. If she looked to her right, she could see almost all of Anor Londo. The view from her vantage point was gorgeous, but thoughts of the city gave her pause.

She cleared her throat and spoke tentatively. "You know, Himemiya, whatever thing is going on between you and Gwynevere…whatever happened when you were in this city sounds like it wasn't a lot of fun."

Anthy replied distractedly, her weight hanging loosely from Utena's shoulders. "Ah? Is that so?"

"I mean…it all seems to really be bothering you. I just want you to know that if you have a problem, you can come to me with it. I want us to be friends like that."

"We are engaged, Miss Utena."

"I know." She sighed. "But…I do care, Himemiya. I want whatever is best for you. If you want me to help, I can help, if that would make you feel better. Or, if you want me to just totally leave you alone, that's fine too." She paused. "Or, if you want to leave. If us being apart would make you happier."

"You would not be upset if I left?"

"Of course I would be sad," Utena stammered. "But I'd deal with it if I knew you were happier that way."

Anthy's arms tensed and tightened around her, putting pressure on her windpipe. Utena choked and scrabbled to keep her grip on the rocks. "H-Himemiya-!"

"Ah! I apologize!" Her grip relented. "I forget myself."

"That's okay," Utena replied with a nervous laugh. "Just don't forget that we're pretty far from the ground right now." To emphasize her point, she grabbed on to the next handhold and clambered upwards. Soon, they had reached the top of the hill and could walk with relative ease.

A few minutes of strolling brought them to the outside of the Archives. Utena began walking along the wall, looking for any form of entrance. Anthy followed a few steps behind.

Eventually, she came across a set of hazy windows. She peered inside, but the warped glass made it difficult to see the dim interior. Her eyes widened when she saw a human silhouette; the familiar figure of a channeler was standing with his back to the windows.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought back to the incident near the gaping dragon, but she decided to file away the information for later. Utena knocked on the window frame, the panes of glass rattling loudly. The blue-robed channeler turned at the sound, holding his trident at the ready.

She held up the book and called out. "Darkmoon business?"

A bright light began growing on the channeler's trident. Utena stepped to the side just in time for a heavy soul arrow to come crashing through the window. As the glass tumbled to the ground, Utena waited anxiously to see if the channeler would do anything else.

No more magic seemed to be coming. She snuck a peek into the building, where the channeler was staring out at her. He took a short bow and gestured towards the broken window with his trident.

She hoisted Anthy through the cleared window and clambered in after her. Within was a massive library with shelves full of books from floor to ceiling in all directions. More channelers were standing watchfully to her left.

"We're here to talk to the Duke, and then leave. Safely. The Dark Sun Gwyndolin sent us." Anthy held out the weathered tome as Utena spoke. The channeler inclined its six-eyed helm towards it, paused, then plucked it from her hands and walked over to one of his fellows. The two exchanged muffled, rapid words, until one channeler pointed to Utena with his trident. He motioned for her to follow him, then began walking. Utena hurried along, noticing with worry that the other channeler had simply tossed Gwyndolin's book onto a nearby table.

The channeler strode swiftly, hundreds of books passing in a blur as Utena struggled to keep up. Thankfully, Anthy had not tired from the climb and was able to walk as quickly as the channeler was. As they advanced, shining crystal growths began cropping up from the walls with increasing frequency. Utena tried to look at them more closely, but the pace of the channeler kept her from catching anything more than a glimmering impression.

In a far off corner, she caught a glimpse of shuddering movement. She could barely recognize the form of a human covered in coldly shining growths—but they disappeared from sight as the channeler began ascending a staircase that was almost completely coated in crystals. Utena tread carefully, not wanting to find out what would happen if she broke one.

As the channeler finally came to a stop before a wall of fog, Utena took the opportunity to catch her breath. The crystals were at their thickest here. She could see warped reflections of herself, Anthy, and the channeler in their angled facets.

The channeler stepped through the fog gate. Anthy followed him. Utena steeled herself and walked through the barrier.

Crystal growths jut forth from all directions. Utena glanced around wildly, made dizzy by how many there were. She finally was able to focus on the blue form of the channeler kneeling on the ground. Anthy stood a few steps behind him and was staring upwards.

Utena looked up and saw the massive form of a pale dragon, at once powerful and emaciated looking, scaleless skin shimmering in the light reflected by the crystals. The dragon's maw yawned widely. Utena took a fearful step backwards and passed through the fog once more.

With confusion and panic, she pushed her hand through the gray haze, hoping that she hadn't locked herself out of the room. To her surprise, the fog readmitted her to the crystal chamber, where she could hear Anthy speaking.

"—so we beg you of your welcome and request your aid, good Duke Seath, if you will lend it."

Seath lowered his eyeless head, his iridescent wings waving lazily behind him. His voice was at once a resonant hiss and a low voice that echoed strangely, sounding as if it were coming from within Utena's thoughts. "The Rose Bride is more than welcome in my domain."

Utena remembered her earlier bravado with a grimace. The sword at her side felt useless as the dragon inclined his head towards her and spoke. "As is your consort, I suppose. What is it that you ask of me?"

"If you would," Anthy replied as she bowed her head, "Please tell my fiancé the history of the Engine."

Seath laughed. It was a slithering, sibilant sound that made Utena want to retreat through the fog wall again.

"Do you know how a crystal takes its form?" Seath's head drew low and brushed against the jagged growths on the ground as he spoke. "Each of its smallest components, the rotating origins of matter, arrange themselves into a perfect lattice. A divine and self-replicating pattern that withstands all change, an alignment of energy into an unmoving grid. It is a manifestation of perfection. It is an analogue to eternity." The dragon chuckled again, letting out a low and stuttering hiss. "In contrast, a fire is unorganized chaos. A fire is self-creating and self-dissipating. It follows no pattern and stands beholden to time, which has but one design—death!"

"When royalty from a distant land came to Lordran seeking asylum, Lord Gwyn welcomed them into the city. He became allies with the good Prince Dios, a young lord of heroic renown. Lord Gwyn let the Prince earn his trust. He learned that the Dios was pursued by a great evil, and Gwyn vowed to bar that force from ever entering his realm. Having earned the trust of one another, Gwyn discussed with him the problem of the fading First Flame. To his surprise, the young Prince had devised a solution."

"The Infernal Engine was an attempt at transmutation, a way to confine and restrict the First Flame in a labyrinth of perfection that would hide it away from the ravages of time. The light of the Flame was to be sealed away in a mechanical castle where eternity could dwell. When the Engine's machinations began, the flame would transcend and assume a perfect, unchanging form, allowing the Age of Fire to continue forever."

"But alas! The process was never completed. Lord Gwyn abandoned the project just as it was about to finish. The good Prince Dios had been overtaken by the one he had been running from. Lord Gwyn feared that this usurper would use the Engine to steal away the Flame for himself. This new foe—a man who called himself the End of the World—had tried to pose as the Prince in order to finish the project, but Lord Gwyn soon learned that he had locked the Prince away in the center of the Engine itself!"

"In his rage and frustration, Gwyn gave that knave a reason for his name. Both End of the World and the Infernal Engine were cast into the lowest depths of the Catacombs, beyond even the realm of Nito, the first of the dead. But that strange invader still has his ways of influencing the outside world." Seath laughed once more, and Utena cringed away from the sound. "Many of his disciples still roam free. When Lord Gwyn gave himself to the flame, End of the World sent them to me and requested my assistance. It would be treason of me to free him, but there were no laws preventing us from collaborating on research. The rise of the curse of the undead was an excellent opportunity to proceed with our studies on immortality…so many were reaching an existence where they were not dead, not alive, but had transcended into a higher state…the Lords were such fools to fear the condition! With the right controlling mechanisms, the curse could have been transmuted into a blessing. And yet, the research stalled. I turned my efforts towards the crystal and its perfect resonance. The other scholars scattered to the winds."

"If you seek entrance to the Infernal Engine so that you may destroy End of the World and free the Prince, I am afraid that I cannot help you directly. However, I can point you in the direction of one of the few scholars that remain from the time of its construction. He will not be easy to find, but for some reason I feel that you will be able to discover his place of hiding. So go forth, new Champion Duelist," he said, lifting his head and spreading his wings. "May you have the strength to do what is required of you."

Utena gave hurried thanks and retreated out of the room. Anthy soon followed, and the channeler stayed behind.

"I was _not_ expecting the Duke to be a dragon," she whispered.

Anthy gave her a thin smile. "Seath was the dragon that betrayed his own kind in order to assist Gwyn. Do you remember?"

"Oh." She frowned. "Yeah. So the Prince he talked about was your brother, right?"

Anthy nodded. "Yes, Miss Utena."

"That makes sense. But Seath didn't mention you at all during that story," she said, questioning in tone.

"The Duke said what he had been told to say," Anthy replied. She paused, frowning. "And not all of what he said was true."

Utena stared at her in shock. "Then…what do I do? How do I get the truth about what's happening? Why can't you tell me?"

"It is not my story to tell," Anthy softly replied.

The channeler emerged from the fog and gestured for them to follow. They were quickly ushered back to the section of the library with the broken window. The channeler pointed to the window with his trident, offered a short bow, and walked away.

Anthy clambered out of the window. Utena hesitated before following her. She quickly glanced around for the presence of any channelers.

Gwyndolin's book lay forgotten on a table. Utena tiptoed over and picked it up.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a polite cough behind her. The book dropped back onto the table with a loud _thunk_. She turned and saw Touga lounging on a chair nestled in a corner of the bookshelves.

"Okay, no." Utena squinted at Touga and frowned. "How the hell did you get here?"

He laughed. "How did _you _get here?"

"I had Gwyndolin's permission to go," she retorted.

He replied with a shrug. "How do the channelers get in and out?"

Utena frowned, unable to come up with a response.

"Anyway." Touga stood from the chair and flicked his hair over his shoulder. "You have all the information you need to continue with the next phase of your journey. Do you feel prepared?"

"Not really."

"Aw. Don't act so crestfallen. Aren't you learning your history? Aren't you seeing the resonance? A lost Prince Dios, a sad Rose Bride, and whatever you are. A lost elder brother, a sad younger sister, and, well…whatever Gwyndolin is."

He fell backwards over his chair as Utena punched him. She managed to get in a few more hits before being shoved off.

"Come on, now." Touga wiped blood from his face with his sleeve, leaving a streak of dull red on the white cloth. "That's not very noble of you."

"Shut up!" Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "What the hell do you know about being noble? Everything you've done has been horrible!"

"I know more than you, apparently," he snapped. "What do you think _real_ nobles were actually like? They certainly didn't go on ridiculous heroic quests. They did _politics_. They pulled the strings so that the people stupid enough to act like heroes would die for them."

"That isn't what I meant!" The rose crest pressed harshly into her palm. "I'm talking about being—"

"A prince?"

Utena made a noise of frustration.

"Let me give you some advice." Touga dusted himself off. "If you're going to get anywhere in life, you have to lie, cheat, and steal. You seem to be off to a good start," he said flatly, pointing to Gwyndolin's book.

Utena grit her teeth, picked up the book, and began climbing out the window. "Yeah, well, they don't seem to want it, so I'm taking it back. They have plenty of books already."

Touga raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Utena joined Anthy outside.

"Alright, now _I'm_ tired," she said blithely as she held up the book. "Let's drop this off and then take a break."

Anthy waited at the top of the staircase as Utena descended into the bonfire chamber. The statue at the entrance to the tomb was still solid. Utena knocked on it a few times to no avail. She set the book at the statue's feet and took a few steps back.

"I don't think they would have appreciated it," she said, her words echoing in the dim room. "So I stole it back."

There was only silence in response. Utena bit her lip and turned to leave.

"Wait," a voice called out. Utena paused.

"My thanks are great for this kindness." Gwyndolin's voice was strained. "Doing this took a dangerous risk."

Utena shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"It is," Gwyndolin replied, "for me."

Utena smiled widely, but Gwyndolin's tone remained tense.

"The Duke spoke to you of the Infernal Engine?"

Utena nodded.

"What is thine intention, then?"

"I'm not really sure yet," she answered quietly. "As far as I know, I'm supposed to get into it and free Himemiya's brother."

The silence stretched.

"I do wish that I could offer further assistance," Gwyndolin finally said. "But these happenings were before my time. I have only old rumors, ghosts of discussions long past. I only know that the Engine is at the furthest limits of this realm for a reason. If that place is thy final goal, I request of thee, consider thine actions with great caution. For thine own sake, and for the sake of thy fellows."

Utena nodded solemnly. "I will. I don't think I know enough about it yet to just go rushing in."

"That is good." Gwyndolin paused once more, as if unsure of how to continue. "Additionally, in my research, I have discovered a few…irregularities surrounding the history of thy companion."

She tensed. "What do you mean?"

"I can say nothing more without devolving to base conjecture. My counsel is this: take care in thy dealings with her."

Utena frowned, feeling anger starting to brew within her chest. "Are you really going to drop a warning like that on me without any more explanation?"

"If I had further explanation to offer, I would give it," Gwyndolin replied, sounding restrained. "Yet records of her presence here are conspicuously bereft of detail. In some instances, the absences are more telling than any full description would have been, but I feel I must do my honored guests the courtesy of not jumping to conclusions."

"Alright." Utena willed herself to calm down. She ran a hand through her hair and smiled thinly. "I'll keep it in mind."

Gwyndolin had nothing more to say. Utena took a short bow and left the chamber.

The walk back to the cathedral was largely uneventful, aside from some colorful words exchanged with one of the bat-winged demons in order to get them to open the gate. The balcony outside of the bonfire room was a good place to sort out her thoughts. She peered out over the city, mulling over what all had been said.

Utena turned at the sound of rapidly approaching armor. She dove to the side with a yelp as a Catarina knight came barreling towards her from above.

With a loud clatter, Seigmeyer landed on the balcony. The unwieldly armor caused him to tumble forward until his momentum was spent. He lay in a heap on the stone floor.

"Finally!" he said breathlessly. "I've conquered the blasted rooftops! I'm free of those ghastly archers!" He took a few failed attempts get back onto his feet. Utena offered him a hand, and soon he was standing triumphantly. "Oh! So you've made it to the city, as well! I'm quite glad. Wakaba explained your plight to me back in the fortress. Did you find your friend?"

Utena laughed as she nodded. "Yep! And the Shrine's firekeeper. Did you see her when you got here?"

"Ah, of course! It was quite a surprise to see two firekeepers at one bonfire! She seems to be having fun! She's looking far less morose than she did back at the Shrine. Say, do you know if another bonfire is nearby?" An edge of worry entered his otherwise boisterous tone. "I have made a good bit of progress that I would rather hate to repeat."

"Oh, yeah, it's right inside the room on the left," she answered, pointing into the hallway.

Seigmeyer quickly expressed his thanks and made a beeline for the door. A thought occurred to Utena and she called after him with concern. "You were with Wakaba in the fortress, right? Is she in the city? Did she make it through alright?"

"Oh, ah, well." Seigmeyer stuttered for a few seconds as he tried to parse an answer. "She was having some difficulty with a later section of the fortress, so she decided to explore a few parts of the roof that were harder to reach. The last I saw her, she seemed quite bothered by something and expressed that she wanted to return to the Shrine. I did do my best to convince her to keep trying, yet I lost track of her after first testing my might against the golem." He let out a short, nervous laugh. "I wouldn't worry! She has much determination and a will to succeed. After conquering the lower areas of the fortress, the return trip to the outside is made far less difficult. I'm sure she is relaxing in the Shrine as we speak."

Utena frowned. "Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know, though."

Seigmeyer nodded and waved apologetically as he quickly retreated into the bonfire room.

Once she tired of thinking and worrying, Utena decided to retire to the bonfire as well.

Solaire sat at one of the tables, reading over the stray papers with a bored expression. Anthy was sitting in the corner, taking inventory of the roses in her bag. Seigmeyer sat crosslegged at the bonfire, his helm bowed over his chest as he snored softly.

Utena took a seat near Anthy and tried to get comfortable. She closed her eyes and tried to will herself to sleep.

It was near impossible. Seigmeyer's snoring, while quiet, was just sporadic enough to keep her awake, and the way it resounded inside of his large helmet wasn't helping.

Anthy took notice of her frustration. "I did happen upon a room with a bed earlier today, Miss Utena. Would you prefer to rest there?"

"That would be nice," she replied gratefully.

"I will show you the way." Anthy said as she returned the roses to her bag and stood. "If you so wish, we may share it."

"Well, I mean, we might as well." Utena stood and stretched out her arms. "We are engaged, after all."

The plush duvet was warm and inviting. Utena nestled under the blanket and glanced over at Himemiya, who was lying on her back and staring glassily at the curtained covering of the bed. Her long hair tumbled over the pillow and flowed onto the sheets.

"So, today went well," Utena said quietly. "We sure learned a lot from the Duke. Did you know him back then? From what I could tell, he seemed pretty glad to see you."

Anthy continued staring upwards. "I am sure that he was," she answered.

"Were you two…friends, back then?" she asked tentatively.

"No." Her reply was swift. "As a matter of fact, I simply cannot stand him."

"Oh?" Utena smirked as she imitated the familiar cadence. "Is that so?"

She felt a flush of happiness as Anthy's eyes crinkled with a smile.

"As a matter of fact," Anthy said as she turned her face to look at Utena, "I simply cannot stand most people." The smile was still there, but her look was cold.

Utena raised an eyebrow. "_Most_ people?"

"There are rare exceptions," she replied. The sheets shifted as she rolled onto her side, facing Utena. Her hand came to rest in the space between them.

"Well," she replied, reaching out and tracing the curve of Anthy's wrist. "I'm glad for that."

"You've done so much," Anthy said quietly. "Yet you've asked for no reward."

"Hm." Utena let her fingers come to rest on Anthy's palm.

"What is it that you want from me, Utena?" Her tone was kept carefully blank.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Are you like the others?" Anthy peered at Utena as if she were trying to look through her. "Miki wanted me as a reinforcement for his crumbling family. Ruka and Juri wanted me as a trophy to squabble over. Saionji wanted me because, well..." She paused, trailing off and lifting her hand. Her fingertips gently brushed Utena's cheek. "Perhaps that is what you desire of me. Is that it?"

She felt her stomach lurch, but she did not draw back. Anthy's hand traced a line down to her collarbone as she spoke.

"Or, perhaps, you are more like Knight Lautrec, simply trying to prove your devotion. Or like Wakaba, looking for the next distraction. Or good Sir Seigmeyer, attempting to show that you too can find glory. Or Kozue, who seeks simply to distinguish herself from her own reflection. Or, perhaps, you truly don't know what you search for, so you give what you don't know a convenient name." Anthy's hand ghosted along Utena's shoulder. "Searching for higher ideals. Searching for another sun."

"Himemiya," she replied in a whisper, "What is it that _you _want?"

"I asked first," Anthy answered flatly, nearly smirking.

Utena placed a hand over hers. "I want the truth."

Her movement stilled, and the resulting silence stretched. Anthy finally gave a wan smile and rolled over.

"I would want to rest, Miss Utena. Good night."

Her sleep was dark and dreamless. When Utena awoke, Anthy was already out of the bed. Standing and stretching her arms, Utena glanced around the room. She spotted Anthy re-tying her hair near the doorway.

"Shall we go speak to the Princess?" Anthy finished sorting her long hair into a twist, and she looked back over her shoulder at Utena. "It would be wise to inform her of what we have learned."

"Oh." Utena nodded in agreement. "That's probably a good idea."

Gwynevere welcomed them warmly to the chamber. She clasped her hands together over her pillow and beamed down at them as she spoke.

"I have heard of thy visit with the Duke Seath. Thou hadst been well received? He produced no threat to thy person?"

Utena shook her head. "No, thankfully. He just told us a whole lot about crystals. Oh, and the Engine project."

Gwynevere nodded, her tone growing more serious. "Ah, yes. That was an old folly, perhaps better left forgotten."

Utena glanced over with surprise as Anthy spoke up. "I find that I must agree, dear Princess." She looked up at Gwynevere with a friendly smile and soft eyes. "Do you not remember? I was here with you, at the time of its construction."

Gwynevere's eyes were oddly blank, as if her mind was somewhere far away. Her head tilted, and she smiled. "Of course I remember. I simply did not want to broach the topic, out of fear of offending thee. We had been apart for so long. I did not know if thine opinion of me had changed."

Anthy clasped her hands together and bowed her head. "Of course, your radiance. I should not have questioned you." She laughed lightly. "This just reminds me so much of when we used to be close! I remember that time fondly. You used to call me a blossom. Do you remember what I called you?"

Gwynevere smiled widely, looking satisfied. "Of course I do! Thou had named me thy sunbeam."

Utena grinned, glad that the misunderstanding had finally been resolved. She turned to Anthy, who was now looking away with her shoulders shaking.

"Himemiya…?" Utena frowned and reached out, placing her hand on her shoulder. Anthy began giggling in response, and Utena shivered and drew back.

"I did no such thing!" Anthy was laughing fitfully.

Gwynevere had gone completely still. "What art thou-"

"Stop, stop!" Anthy interrupted, still fighting back laughter. She had to wipe tears from her eyes as she spoke. "So even the dear Princess has abandoned this place? How sad. How very, very sad."

Utena whispered harshly. "Himemiya? What's wrong?"

"Perhaps you should be asking dear Gwyndolin what is wrong, Miss Utena," she replied. She rose to her feet and began striding towards the couch, where it seemed like Gwynevere had frozen in place. "Or, perhaps, I shall just demonstrate for you—"

The light in the room shattered into pieces; in front of Gwynevere's couch manifested an image of Gwyndolin, holding a silver arrow notched in a golden bow.

"_Halt_." Gwyndolin's thin arms drew tense, and the arrow was aimed steadily at Anthy. "Cease thy heresy now."

Utena leapt to her feet and dragged Anthy backwards, pulling on her shoulder. "Whoa, whoa. What's going on?"

"Whilst you were in the Archives, I had the opportunity to do my own studies," Gwyndolin responded. "Don't dare think that I know not of your intentions, heretic!"

Anthy was silent, but she stared at Gwyndolin with an odd expression of triumph. Utena pulled her further backwards and kept a watchful eye on the drawn bowstring.

"At first, I had doubted myself and grew fearful when I could not discern thy purpose in thy presence, but now I realize. Absence infers form." Gwyndolin kept the arrow carefully trained upon Anthy. "Thy wish is to repeat thine attempt at deicide."

"Of all of the rumors available," Anthy said with a frown, "you decided to pursue that one?"

"Did you believe that I, the leader of a covenant solely dedicated to eradicating sin, would not discover thy transgressions? I found the pardons issued, the orders given to hide the evidence of such a plot from public sight. Thou hadst convinced the Bishop Havel to assist thee. Thou knoweth no shame? The Bishop was a man of high reputation and pure heart, and yet thy corruption spread even to him."

Anthy's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.

"Could we all just take a second to calm down? Can one of you _please_ explain what's going on?" Utena stepped in front of Anthy, blocking her with her arms. Gwyndolin's aim wavered slightly.

"Gwynevere is an illusion, Miss Utena," Anthy replied.

"Sister Gwynevere's image is required to uphold the will of the city," Gwyndolin retorted.

"But if Gwynevere isn't actually here," Utena said, gesturing towards the image of the deity, "Anthy can't hurt her, right? And…what is everyone else protecting? Why have everyone on high alert for that undead?"

Gwyndolin spoke slowly. "The trials here are to ensure the strength of the Chosen Undead so that they may acquire the Lordvessel and link the Flame—"

"Oh, enough with all the trials!" Utena's hands tightened into fists. "You can't really be asking people to die just to see if the Undead is strong enough to actually kill them! That's ridiculous!"

"They know of what their duty holds and do so willingly. They protect the image of the Godmother and the image of Anor Londo—"

"But they're protecting nothing!" She couldn't keep herself from shouting. "What about them?" She pointed back to the room before the Princess's chambers, where the Dragonslayer and the Executioner stood guard. "You're going to ask your most loyal people to die just because _maybe_ the Undead can do something—"

"They know what their duty holds—"

"Do they know?" Utena's voice cracked in frustration. She gestured widely towards the frozen image of Gwynevere. "Do they know about this?"

"I know," Gwyndolin said tersely, "that thou hast overstayed thine welcome. Thou shalt leave the city, now."

Utena's face fell. "Gwyndolin—"

"Did thou not pledge thyself to protect the Godmother?" The bowstring tightened. "If thy wish is to stay true to thy vows, then _leave_."

Feeling her eyes sting with tears, Utena turned away. Anthy was already on her way out, waiting patiently for the elevator to arrive.

The Executioner and the Dragonslayer were standing on each side of the exit of the outer room. Utena kept her gaze to the floor as she went to walk past.

Utena shuddered as Smough's gauntlet pressed heavily on her shoulder. Fearing the worst, she turned to look up at his masked helm. He only nodded towards Ornstein, who had kneeled down in order to match her height.

She stared at the darkness within the lion-faced helm. Ornstein nodded gravely before holding out his hand. In the palm of his gauntlet rested a dull golden ring.

"In appreciation," he said quietly, "of thy speech on our behalf. Worry not, and take this. Perhaps thou shalt find greater luck with it than I."

"You heard all of that?" She grimaced as she reached out and carefully took the ring.

Smough gestured towards the open doors to the Princess's chamber.

Utena frowned, staring at the gold band. "And you're still going to stay here?"

"As we must," Ornstein replied as he stood.

She felt a painful tightness in her chest. Before she could reply, one of the silver knights ran to the entranceway and signaled to Ornstein.

"So that undead hath arrived at last." He stepped back, tightening his grip on his spear. "Make haste in thine exit." Utena noticed that his helm was now aimed past herself, staring instead at Anthy. She was returning the look with a thoughtful expression.

Ornstein nodded subtly before waving towards the cathedral hall. "Go."

The two walked briskly back to the living quarters. Anthy's bag had been left in the bedroom, and as they retrieved it Utena noticed that many of the silver knights that they passed before seemed to be absent.

"Should we stop by the bonfire?" Utena asked tentatively. "We should probably say goodbye. And…tell them," she said, glancing at the floor.

"If you wish, Miss Utena." Anthy began walking down the hallway.

They traveled in silence until they neared the bonfire room.

"So…the whole thing with Gwyndolin—"

Anthy spoke quickly. "You wanted the truth, didn't you, Miss Utena?"

Her face fell. "Yeah, but there might have been better ways to—"

"I am going to go wait on the balcony," Anthy interrupted. "Let me know when you are ready to leave, Miss Utena."

Utena let out a long sigh and opened the door.

To her surprise, the room was uninhabited. She took a few steps in and glanced around, put off by Seigmeyer's and Solaire's sudden absence.

She caught a glimpse of a folded piece of parchment on the table.

The letter read as follows:

"Hello!

Finally! I've been stuck in some sort of enchanted painting for far more time that I would have ever wanted. It was a strange land full of far stranger beings. I still shudder at the thought of some of them. The only beacon of sanity in that frozen waste was a young woman by the name of Priscilla. She had some of the qualities of a Lord, yet many characteristics more akin to a dragon. I can't imagine what sort of events surrounded her conception. Anyway, she was likely more kind to me than she had any real need to be. Apparently the creatures there live under her protection, and I had slaughtered more than a few in self-defense. She instructed me on how to exit the enchanted painting, the method being throwing myself off of a cliff.

I don't know if the painting was created in order to keep her contained or to ensure her safety. Perhaps both. It must be awfully lonely in there, but she did not seem interested in my company at all. In any case, I'm glad to be back under the warm sun and fresh air of the city!

A quick point of interest: I think I may have received (very vague) romantic overtures from our friend Solaire. After having hinted, though, he requested that I pretend I hadn't heard. I was happy to oblige. I've been in this world long enough to know that such connections are simply impossible anymore.

In truth, I am loathe to strike up anything more than acquaintanceship with most. You never know what you could discover about a person that could make you regret a friendship. You also never know how likely they may be to stab you in the back.

You also never want the pain of seeing someone you care about meet a fate so foul as hollowing, but that can be a harsh reality of the world we live in.

Sorry to end on such morose terms. The cathedral is quite near now, at least! I'll be able to continue my quest. I believe both Solaire and Seigmeyer (you two have met, I believe?) will be assisting me. May you have much luck with your journeys.

Yours,

The Chosen Undead"

The letter's contents wavered as her vision began to blur. She shut her eyes tightly in an attempt to fight back tears.

"Damn and blast!" A sudden loud clanking made Utena jump. Seigmeyer had appeared in front of the bonfire.

He ducked down and took a seat with a huff. "So much progress—lost! I'm simply too slow against these silver knights. There must be another way…ah! Tenjou! Will you join me? I could use your assistance in planning out my next approach—oh?" He paused, noticing her distress. "Is everything quite alright?"

Before Utena could answer, the bonfire flickered brightly, and Solaire reappeared at Seigmeyer's side.

"Always with the archers!" He _tsk_ed and looked over to Seigmeyer, who was nodding in sympathy.

"Always with them," he replied, his large helm dropping low. "And I cannot yet live down my shame in misidentifying a mimic. _Twice_."

"It was a dark room," Solaire replied. "There's no shame in simply not being able to see."

Seigmeyer shrugged. "What do you think is the, ah, estimated time of arrival for that undead?"

"Last I was able to tell, they were holding their own against a halberd-wielding knight," Solaire replied. "Though they may not be having as much success after two more snuck up on me. Unless they are quite lucky, they should be back…at any second…" He trailed off and looked towards the bonfire. "Well, perhaps they managed the encounter."

"Could you catch up to them?" Utena asked hurriedly.

Solaire turned to her and gave a cheerful wave. "Oh! Hello, Tenjou. I suppose that we could." He paused, noticing her expression. "Has something happened?"

"They're trying to get to the Princess, right?"

They both nodded. Utena pressed her hands against the table as she stood.

"She isn't really there," she said quietly. "All of these guards…they're protecting an empty room."

Solaire and Seigmeyer glanced at each other.

"Haven't you…_talked_ to the Princess?" Solaire asked tentatively.

"She was an illusion," Utena answered.

"Created by whom?" Seigmeyer asked, crossing his arms. "What is the illusion hiding? Oh! Was she kidnapped? Perhaps the next step of the quest is to go find her—"

"Please," Utena interrupted. "Don't let that undead kill the people here. There has to be another way."

Solaire nodded gravely. "We'll do what we can. Onwards?" he asked, turning to Seigmeyer.

"Onwards," he agreed.

Utena followed them out of the room, but turned to the balcony instead of venturing forth down the hall.

Anthy was nowhere to be seen. One of the bat-winged demons was snarling on the railing. It leapt forward, grasping Utena's jacket with its claws. She cried out and reached for her sword as it lifted her off the floor. Kicking her legs, she managed to disentangle herself just as the demon dropped her onto the walkway leading to the rotating spiral staircase.

Anthy was waiting for her, looking entirely unperturbed. Not far from her was the Knightess and Anastacia.

"Master Gwyndolin informed me that you are to leave the city as soon as possible," the Knightess said. Her tone was careful and restrained. "I suppose that is for the best. It will keep you out of harm's way."

"Did you know?" Utena asked helplessly. "About Gwynevere?"

The Knightess crossed her arms and was silent for a long while. Finally, she turned her helm, looking away from Utena. "No matter the form, my feelings are true. The image of the Godmother is deserving of the same respect of the Godmother herself."

Before Utena could reply, the Knightess continued. "Listen. I understand that you are approaching this issue from a place of sympathy. That is appreciated. The stakes are simply far too high for you to interfere. Do you understand?"

Utena bit her tongue and nodded silently.

"Good." The Knightess uncrossed her arms. "Anastacia has decided that she wants to return to her post at the Shrine bonfire. She will be traveling with you. Take great care," she said, inclining her head towards Anthy, "that no harm comes to her person."

Anthy stared at her blankly. Anastacia frowned and shifted her weight on her crutches.

"Your transport awaits at the top of the outer wall," the Knightess added. "I wouldn't keep them waiting."

The three hurried past the screeching elevator and the bonfire chamber. At the top of a long walkway, three of the bat-winged demons lay in wait for them.

Utena took one last look back towards the cathedral. It shined beneath the glowing sun. The now-familiar exterior of the building made her heart ache.

Her breath caught in her throat as the world went dim. The sun shrank, causing the golden hues of the sky to drop to a deep indigo. Incomprehension made her stomach turn with worry, and she yelped as one of the bat-winged creatures latched onto her shoulder. Anastacia looked similarly terrified as one lifted her off of her feet. With a few flaps of their wings, they coasted down from the high wall, the darkened image of the city disappearing behind them.

The bat-winged demons dropped them unceremoniously in the middle of a forest. After checking that both Anthy and Anastacia were okay, Utena began pressing forward, basing her direction against the sight of the high wall of Anor Londo behind them. The sky remained dark, making movement through the shadowy woods a cautious affair. Her gut was twisting with anxiety, but she pushed off all thoughts of what had happened as she focused on moving forward.

Eventually, they happened upon a bonfire. It felt as if they had been walking for miles. They agreed to a much-needed rest.

Utena lay down and rolled over, shielding her eyes from the glare of the flames. She napped fitfully until she heard the sound of crackling leaves. Her neck sore and her eyes gummed with sleep, she looked around blearily, trying to find the source of the noise.

Anthy was still resting, her form a dark huddle at the base of a tree. Anastacia was not within the light given off by the bonfire.

Worry began to grow, and Utena sat up and looked around for the firekeeper. Her crutches were also missing, but Utena could see obvious marks in the dirt showing where she had walked. She looked along the trail and peered out into the darkness.

She could see the dim outline of Anastacia standing further into the forest. Utena lowered her head back to the ground with relief, figuring that she must have needed to go and relieve herself or something.

She froze when she heard what sounded like a voice. If Anastacia had no tongue-?

Utena slowly got to her feet, keeping as silent as possible. She snuck over to a large tree and strained her ears as she tried to hear what Anastacia was doing. If she peeked around the trunk, she could see the firekeeper leaning on her crutches and making small movements with her hands, but whatever she was addressing was still out of sight.

With a more dramatic movement—her hands clasping together, then coming apart—Anastacia hurriedly hobbled backwards. Utena's hand hovered over her sword hilt. She spotted a glint of metal in the darkness, and her breath caught in her throat.

Lautrec was pressing forward just as Anastacia was backing away, his shotels held tensely at his side. His armor was dirty and damaged badly, his helm marred by a dented scratch.

Utena's eyes went wide. Surely Anastacia wasn't going to trust him and bring him back to the bonfire—the wild movements she was making with her hands were impossible to interpret.

She drew her sword silently and tensed. She could now hear Lautrec talking.

"No—listen, now. We had a _deal_, you understand? I held up my end. You _have_ to hold up yours. You haven't any idea of what I've been through since that damned Darkmoon found me. You _have _to do this, I need you to do this." He continued his approach as Anastacia stumbled backwards through the trees, and his rough voice was near pleading. "If not for my sake, then for Fina. She's fallen silent ever since—do you not understand the pain that I am under? Did you not express your desire to end your own pain? Let us help each other."

As Anastacia passed by her hiding spot, Utena spotted the glimmer of tears upon the firekeeper's cheek. She paused once more in her retreat and clasped her hands together, then placed one hand over her heart, then shook her head no as she held both up in a calming gesture.

"Don't give me that, you wretch." Lautrec's grip on the shotels tightened.

Anastacia's crutches trampled the leaves below as she backed away. The two were now close to the bonfire; Utena could see the orange and red glimmering off of Lautrec's armor. She carefully stepped away from her hiding place and began to sneak over behind him.

Anastacia paused once more and reached out. Lautrec smacked her arm away and pushed. Her mouth opened wordlessly as she fell to the ground, her crutches clattering beneath her.

Lautrec readied to swing his shotel but froze in place as a shadow was cast upon him.

Anthy stood in front of the bonfire, shadowy and indistinct as the flames roiled behind her, her glasses shining in the darkness. Her teeth glimmered as she slowly smiled.

Lautrec took a step backwards, only to stop against the end of Utena's sword.

He let out a dry laugh and lowered his weapons. "Damn. So it's come to this, has it? Will you be killing me, Miss Duelist, or will your friend? I can't say which I would prefer."

She tapped the blade against his back as a warning. "Shut up."

"I imagine that she has the stones to do it. Oh, pardon my language, ladies. But would _you_ really have the guts to do me in?"

"I said shut up."

"Would you kill for her, Utena? Would you do it?"

"Shut _up!_"

"If you do this, we really are kindred spirits."

Utena grit her teeth and tightened her grip on the hilt. Lautrec was finally silent and waited tensely.

"Not for her," she spat. "For the firekeeper. What do you say, Anastacia? Kill him or let him go?"

Anastacia blinked at her in shock. She opened her mouth wordlessly, then closed it and looked back at Anthy, who peered down at her without expression.

The firekeeper looked up at Lautrec and held up her hand with her fingers splayed wide. She then pointed out towards the darkness of the forest and nodded at Utena.

Utena pushed Lautrec's shoulder, pivoting him so that he faced the bonfire at a right angle. "Start walking. Don't let us see you again." She shoved him forward and then took a step back, holding her sword at the ready.

He took a few steps, then paused. "I have no estus, nor other supplies. It took everything I had to find you. I've had Blades of the Darkmoon hunting me ever since I left Anor Londo. Sending me away is as good as killing me."

Utena grit her teeth and jabbed the tip of the sword against his shoulder. "Don't push your luck."

Lautrec ignored her. "Well?" he asked, nodding towards Anastacia. "May I use this place to rest, good lady of the bonfire?"

She stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. Eventually, she nodded a yes.

Utena made a sound of frustration and sheathed her sword. "You two keep resting," she said, gesturing towards Anthy and Anastacia. "I'll keep watch."

Utena sat a few feet away from Lautrec, watching him carefully. Thankfully, he had barely moved since he had taken a seat at the fireside. Anastacia was resting near Anthy, at the base of a tree behind Utena.

Utena stared into the flames, trying to push away her worries. Thoughts of Anor Londo going dark kept gnawing at her conscience, and she failed to keep herself from wondering if it had been linked to Gwyndolin's presence or lack thereof in the city.

Lautrec took off his dented helm, revealing unkempt dark hair and an angular face. He seemed exhausted, but the look he shot Utena was hard as stone. "So you can't see it?" he asked flatly.

She frowned. "See what?"

He gestured vaguely. "Any of it."

"That's not helpful."

"_Her_," he hissed, pointing towards the sleeping Anthy.

"Well, I'm not blind," she retorted. "She's just lying on the ground, not bothering you at all."

Lautrec sighed and pressed his forehead into his palm. "I don't mean what she's doing. I mean what she _is_."

Utena rolled her eyes. "Okay, Lautrec. What is she?"

"I don't _know_," he spat.

"Okay, then." Utena ran a hand through her hair. "If you don't have any idea of what you're talking about, then maybe you should just let it go, huh?"

He scowled. "Why do you travel with her?"

"Why do you go around killing firekeepers?" she retorted.

"Those firekeepers came with me of their own volition. They were miserable with their lot in life and I gave them the only comfort I could offer."

Utena glared at him. "That's ridiculous."

"It's _lucrative_. It frees them, and it provides me with all that I need. To offer their remains to Fina is an honor for us both—"

"Didn't you say that Fina isn't talking to you?" she retorted. "What good were all those 'offerings', then?"

His jaw clenched and he looked away.

"Listen." Utena sighed. "Any sort of relationship where one person demands the other to prove their love by _killing people_ probably isn't healthy."

He shot her a withering look and she shrugged.

The silence between them was broken only by the crackling of the bonfire. Utena briefly reached for her sword when he moved, but relaxed as he did nothing more than hold his hand up to the firelight.

"I suppose she has been testing me all this time," he said quietly. An angular golden ring glittered on his finger, and he peered at it with a dark expression. "Surely I have given enough. Do I have the right to test her in return?"

Lautrec hesitated, took a deep breath, and removed the ring. As soon as it left his finger, it crumbled into pieces. His face immediately went pale. Utena stared at him with growing concern as he began swearing profusely and searching the dirt for remnants of the broken ring.

"Fina, Fina, _Fina_, no." His hands scrabbled against the ground, the pieces only breaking further as he tried to pick them up. "Oh, _gods_, what do I do?"

Utena felt frozen as she stared at his panic, her rose crest tight against her palm.

(Next time, on For Friendship, Perhaps : Some much needed diversions, and the tying of a few loose ends. Our favorite dual-wielder arrives. It wouldn't be a RGU story without a dance scene.)

(This chapter's title is from Petit Banshou no Seimei Kodokushi. Additional listening can be found with Seath's theme.)

(As always, thank you so much for comments/kudoses! There's a lot of Deepest Lore speculation in this, and I'm hoping the inclusion of the Engine is a smooth one.)


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